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Totoya Hokkei

The Cave Door of Spring

1825
pentaptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

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In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of July 2026

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FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

These prints form a composition inspired by a story about the deity Amaterasu. She was once so offended by her brother that she retreated into a cave, leaving the earth in darkness. Several attempts to lure her out with cocks crowing, music-making, and a goddess dancing failed, but a mirror hung from a nearby tree made Amaterasu curious, bringing her to the entrance of the cave. A stone was quickly placed at the entrance to block her way back into the cave, and light was restored to the world. The scene across the prints is unified by embossed clouds enriched with gold, silver, and copper.

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