Pl. 16: Nara at Night - Sarusawa Pond

Tomikichiro Tokuriki

The 16th image created by Tokuriki for the album Scenes of Sacred Places and Historic Landmarks, a 50-print album published by Uchida in 1941. It depicts various storied places throughout Japan from the mountains to the sea. Here, Tokuriki illustrates the five-story wooden pagoda, Kofukuji Temple, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. He's chosen a nocturnal image to highlight the reflections of the town's lanterns and streetlamps in the surface of the man-made Sarusawa Pond. In the lower right mid-ground, two of Nara's famed sika deer forage for grasses along the pond's path.

These landmarks are located in Nara Park, a designated "Place of Scenic Beauty" established in 1880. Kofukuji Temple is the second largest wooden pagoda in Japan, and the pond is itself a storied tourist attraction, created in the 8th century to appease the heartbroken ghost of a court maid who drowned herself afer Emporer Heizei fell out of love with her. A festival is held at the pond every September to bring comfort to her soul.