Ido Masao created the Hundred Views of Kyoto series (Kyoto Hyakkei) in 2009. Kyoto is the city where Masao Ido lived most of his life, and which he portrayed with great affection. This immense project of 100 different prints divided into 10 sets, each depicting a different area of Kyoto, was issued in a beautiful wooden chest with drawers. Although it is officially an open edition, at the time it was already a very exclusive and pricey collection. Imagine buying 100 prints in one time! Nowadays, it is near to impossible to find the complete series with chest. This particular print is of Volume 2: Ten Views of Sagano - Adashino, Nenbutsu-ji Temple. Adashino Nenbutsu-ji (化野念仏寺, Adashino Nenbutsuji) is a Buddhist temple in Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. In 811 Kūkai is said to have founded a temple, then Honen altered it to the present Nenbutsuji. Situated high on a hill overlooking the city from the northwest, it sits in an area where since the Heian period people abandoned the bodies of the dead, exposing them to the wind and rain. Now, some eight thousand Buddhist statuettes, which had been scattered around Adashino then collected about 1903, memorialize the souls of the dead. During its well-known 'sento kuyo' ceremony dedicated to the spirits of the dead on the evenings of 23 and 24 August, about ten thousand stone statues are lit up with candles. In its name, Adashino is a place name; Nenbutsu refers to a mantra (recitation of a buddha's name). (source: Wikipedia) This print is in excellent condition. It has never been framed and always stored in a dark place. Masao Ido was born in 1945 in Beipiao in Northeastern China. After his family returned to their hometown of Kyoto in 1960, he began his artistic career under Koho Yoshida, working with dyes, before shifting to contemporary woodblock prints in 1972. Under the tutelage of Shigechika Ohtsubo, Masao Ido honed his distinct woodblock print style. His work captures a sense of tranquility, whether in the sloping eaves of old houses or lush gardens. Masao Ido has exhibited his work worldwide. His contemporary woodblock prints can be found in numerous permanent collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.