Watanabe no Tsuna receiving the sign post for Rashomon Gate from Minamoto no Yorimitsu n.d.

This color woodblock print by Katsukawa Shun'ei depicts Minamoto no Yorimitsu entrusting Watanabe no Tsuna with a signpost for the Rashomon Gate. The Rashomon Gate, an imposing symbol of power and authority, looms large in the cultural consciousness. Traditionally a gate for the entry of visitors and goods, it becomes a site of dread, a place for the disposal of unwanted bodies. This invokes the gate as a liminal space between the known world and the realm of the unknown, the feared, and the impure. We see echoes of this dark threshold in other cultural narratives, for example, in the motif of the city gate in ancient Mesopotamian art, often flanked by protective deities meant to ward off evil. This image from Shun'ei taps into our collective fears and anxieties, transforming the mundane into the monstrous. It is a potent reminder of how symbols can evolve, taking on new layers of meaning as they travel through time and across cultures.