Ishiyamadera

Ishiyamadera Pagoda

   My interest in Japan has deep roots in my adolescence.  When I was in grade school, I lived in Edgemont, South Dakota.  As a Boy Scout, I worked on various kinds of merit badges, like knot tying, hiking, and camping.  The badge that brought me the greatest enjoyment, however, was the merit badge in Philately, or Stamp Collecting.  When my sisters found out that I had become a collector, they dug out their old collections from their own grade school experience and began to lure me into performing some of their household chores with promises of their best specimens.  Mary, in high school and the object of an odd mixture of my scorn and admiration, would cajole, "If you'll do the dishes for me, I will give you the purple waterfall stamp from Reunion."  I would insist she throw in one of my favorites, the Japanese stamps of the WWII period, and the deal was done.  Slowly I built up a good collection, but like my sisters, I abandoned stamps for more intense social interests.  
   When I retired in 1995, I turned to art and printmaking as a leisurely pursuit, and began to make printed replicas of the gems of my old collection.  Ishiyamadera Pagoda was built in AD 1194, and is the oldest such pagoda in Japan. The temple complex is historically important for the small but exquisite pagoda and two world-firsts of great importance: 1) The oldest novel in the world, "Genji-monogatari" (Tale of the Genji ) was written by Lady Murasaki at Ishiyamadera, and 2) The oldest surviving dated print, bearing a notation corresponding to the year 1052 in red ink, is the property of Ishiyamadera Temple. 

Provenance: 

​​​Image Size: 4" x 5"
Paper Size: 10" x 13"
Paper Type: Rives Lightweight

Edition Size: 50
Inks Used: Pantone Rubber Base Ink / Deep Claret and Pale Rose
Date cut: Key 8-26-1997 / Background 10-15-2003

Available:

$25.00 USD
$500 MXN
   Shipping: $15.00 with tracking to USA