Kawase Hasui
Title: Zojoji Temple
Date: 1950s-60s.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Print size: Approximately 5.5 x 3.5 inches.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print tipped along its top edge to an original blank card.
Condition: Excellent.
Note: Not sealed by the artist. We've encountered a sealed late twentieth century example. Please see our last photo. This Zojoji design is very similar to a well-known 1930s Hasui print.

Kasamatsu Shiro (1898 - 1991)
Yasaka Pagoda in the Rain
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.75 x 10.5 inches.
Date: 1934.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. 1946-57 edition. 6 mm seal at lower left corner.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Removed from original folder. Two original drying pinholes at left margin.
A superb example with well-preserved greens, yellow, orange, purple, pink and red.

Edo Period Utagawa Kuniyoshi wood block print c 1859, nice print handling wear especially at the lower corner as seen in pictures. Approximately 5.75 by 9" we have around 18 pieces from the same volume .

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Ginza in Rain, 1933.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Doi Hangaten. Doi watermark.
Carver: Harada. Printer: Yokoi. This seal combination indicates an early post-war edition.
Reference: Koitsu catalogue no. TK-DH-9.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Fading in yellows and greens.
Note: This print is rare in any edition. Old cars are seldom seen in shin hanga.

City in the Rain (after Hasui)
(A rare alternative perspective on "City in the Rain" by Kawase Hasui).
Artist: Not known.
Date: 1930s.
Size: 5.5 x 3.625 inches
Publisher: Takemura Hideo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent with very slight bend at upper right corner.

Vintage Japanese woodblock print by moku hanga style artist Fumio Fujita (1933-present). He graduated the Musashino College of Fine Arts in 1955 and began making woodblock prints in 1963. This is an abstract piece he created early in his career with a goldenrod yellow and grey background and bold, black criss-crossing lines with solid black circles, capturing motion and fluidity. It is set in a black and gold frame...

Kawase Hasui
Katada in Ohmi
Date: 1930s.
Size: Approximately 6.25 x 4.25 inches.
Hasui oval seal at lower right.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950)
A Calm Day, 1930 from Inland Sea, Second Series.
Oban. Approximately 16.0 x 11.0 inches.
First edition bearing the large black jizuri seal, indicating self-printing by the artist.
Pencil signed and titled.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Narazaki Eisho (1864-1936) (aka. Kyokudo, Fuyo, Shinjo)
Futagawa in Snow (Futagawa no Yuki)
Date: Early 20th century.
Size: Approximately 7.25 x 5.25 inches.
Signed and sealed "Kyokudo".
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
A very rare creped print.
Condition: Unframed. Excellent.
The uneven margin is due to the creping process.

Shiko Munakata (1903 ~ 1975)
Titled in Japanese: Flower(s) of Vienna, the great Leo Sirota ウィーンノハナ　レオシロタ大人
Dated: April 11, 1965.
Leo Sirota (1885-1965) was one of the world's most famous pianists. Munakata was his friend and produced this print shortly after Sirota's death.
Edition: Not known. A color version of this design exists.
Signed: "Shiko" in Japanese; "Munakata" in English.
Sheet size: 16 x 10.75 inches...

Ohara Koson
Barn swallow in flight above water with large waves
Size: O-tanzaku. Approximately 14.5 x 7.5 inches.
Date: Early 20th century.
Reference: K28.8 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Publisher: Daikokuya
Signed and sealed by the artist.
"Made in Japan" stamped on back.
Condition: Light foxing.
Embossed waves and splashes in this lively design.

Takahashi Shotei (Hiroaki)
Moonrise at Tokumochi
Date: Pre-1936.
Chuban. Approximately 10 x 7 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. No. 197 in 1936 Watanabe catalog.
White 6 mm Watanabe seal at lower right.
Artist's seal lower left.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Slight fading. Paper residue at back bottom margin.

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Owl
Size: Mitsugiri-ban. Approximately 15.25 by 7.5 inches.
Date: 1930s. This edition ca. 1960s.
Publisher: Doi.
Reference: Koitsu catalog No. TK-DH-75-V1.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Kawase Hasui
Nissaka
Date: 1930s. This edition 1950s-60s.
Approximately 5.75 x 3.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Hasui oval seal at upper left.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Print is attached along its top edge to original blank card.
Condition: Excellent. A rarely seen design.

A bright, beautiful woodblock print by Mayumi Oda (1941-present), headlining her exhibition in the Satori Gallery, San Francisco, January 1982. It is numbered 93/250 and signed/copyrighted in pencil. Largest prints she has made. Size: 39.5" height, 28" width

Woodblock Print of Traditional Japanese Folk Potteries by Serizawa Keisuke. Issued by Nihon Mingeikan (Japan Folk Craft Museum) in 1970. H. 20"(51cm) x W. 26"(66cm.) Excellent colors, light toning to paper. Printed text in Japanese. See also SK-1 in English. Keisuke Serizawa (5/13/1895 - 4/5/1984) was designated a Ningen Kokuho (National Living Treasure) in 1956 for his work in katazome stencil dyeing...

Koichi Okumura (1904 ~ 1974)
Panoramic View of Mt. Higashi. (Higashi Tenbo)
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.75 x 10.75 inches.
Date: 1948. Later edition.
Publisher: Unsodo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Tsunenobu Kano (1636-1713)
Pheasant and Wildflowers
Date: 1900-1910s.
Size: 8.75 x 6.75 inches.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Residue at back. Light creasing.

Jun (Jun'ichiro) Sekino
Postscript Thoughts on "The Book of the Ghost". This very rare booklet with woodblock-printed covers is Sekino's reflections on having produced and self-published the 1950 woodblock-printed work, "The Book of the Ghost". The cover page reads, "Please Read this Little Booklet as a Personal Letter from Me."
Publisher: The artist's Sosaku Shuppan company.
The book is a single sheet folded into eight pages and has a wonderful T...

Japanese limited edition sosaku hanga woodblock print by Tadashi Nakayama (1927 - 2014) titled “Flowers and Riding Horse” (Hana to Kiba) dated 1968. The bottom margin contains, in pencil, the date, artist’s signature and edition number 49/85. The paper measures 20 3/8”V x 15 3/4”H (Image: 14 1/2"V x 11"H). A red Nakayama seal is on the back. In pencil at the bottom left corner of the back is the title, in Japanese, and the original saIes price of 10,000 yen...

Ohara Shoson (Koson)
Kingfisher on Snow-Covered Reeds
Size: Approximately 7 x 4.75 inches.
Date: ca. 1930s.
Shoson seal at lower left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Reference: AS.13 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.
Note: Embossed snow on this rarely seen design.

Kawase Hasui
Hida Kamagatake
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Date: 1933. This is a lifetime edition published between 1946 and 1957.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears the red 6mm seal.
Condition: Very good. The tonal difference at the lower right corner appears to be an impression flaw, rather than a matte line.
A rarely seen Hasui image.

Rei Yuki (1928-2003)
Coincidence (Guzen)
Edition: 4/60
Pencil signed, titled and numbered.
Not dated.
Paper size: 12.5 x 10.25 inches.
Condition: The back has light tape marks. The paper is thinner at the upper right corner margin.

Kawase Hasui
Chuzenji Lake, Nikko
Date: 1930s. This edition early postwar.
Size: Approximately 5.625 x 3.625 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
Not sealed by artist. Sealed examples exist.
Print is tipped along its top edge to an original card.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Kawase Hasui
Yakumo (Yagumo) Bridge at Nagata Shrine, Kobe
Series: Collection of Scenic Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1934. A lifetime edition produced between 1946-1957.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo...

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Fishing Boat Returning at Sunset, Yabase, 1933.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears the round 6mm seal. This seal was used between 1946 and 1957.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Condition: Pristine. Never displayed. Removed from original presentation folder for archival storage.
A rarely seen work.

Eijiro Kobayashi
A High Bridge by Night.
A design influenced by James Whistler and Hiroshige.
Series: Hasegawa Night Scenes.
Date: 1910s.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 10 x 7.5 inches.
Publisher: Hasegawa Takejiro (No. 1241 in Hasegawa catalog).
Edition: One of the earliest examples - on thicker card with the verso stamp, "Printed by T...

Edo Period Utagawa Kuniyoshi wood block print c 1859, nice print handling wear especially at the lower corner as seen in pictures. Approximately 5.75 by 9" we have around 18 pieces from the same volume .

Artist: Oda Hironobu [signature and seal]
Descrption: Mountain scene
Date: 1930s
Size: Oban, approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches
Publisher: Maeba Han (oval seal)
Condition: A thinning area at the upper left. Crease at left. See verso photo of small tape/pencil notes.
- Oda Hironobu was born in 1888. His prints were produced in very small quantities and are rare. The colors in the hills would be at home in a California/Western woodcut.

Kawase Hasui
Starlit night, Miyajima
Souvenirs of travel, third series.
Date: 1928.
Size: Approximately 15.0 x 10.125 inches.
Hasui signature and seal lower left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe "A" seal in right margin, indicating a first edition.
Reference: Hotei No. 140.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Paper toned at left and top margin edge. Top back margin has residue.

Paul Jacoulet
Korean Baby in Ceremonial Costume, Seoul (Bébe Coréen en Costume de Cérémonie, Séoul)
Date: September 12, 1934.
Size: Approximately 18.75 x 14.0 inches.
Jacoulet signature and watermark with fan seal.
Edition: 316/350.
Reference: Print #4 in The Prints of Paul Jacoulet by Richard Miles.
Condition: Some fading. Small, faint spot in upper background.
- Jacoulet's first study of a child.

A set of three framed woodblock prints by artist Hiroshige depicting a busy street at night, a boat scene, and a small, upscale gathering. The similar usage of deep blue in each print is complimentary to the set. Size: (entire frame) 12.25" height, 22.25" width (each print) 6.25" height, 4" width

Kawase Hasui
The Shrine of Kasuga at Nara
Date: 1935
Size: Oban. 14.0 x 9.75 inches.
Publisher: Shimbishoin (for Japanese Government Railways)
Bears the oval Hasui seal
This print is as issued by the Railway on it's original display backing with string hanger. The original description tag is on the verso.
Condition: Light soiling and toning.
Very few of these survive...

Arai Yoshimune
Carp in a Pond
Date: ca. 1910.
Size: Approximately 8.75 x 6.125 inches.
Artist's signature and seal at upper right.
Publisher: Matsumoto (No. 387). Tag on back.
Condition: Bottom margin discolored. A couple of very faint foxing marks in image.
Note: Very rare. We could find no other example of this design.

Ohara Koson
Two monkeys, a butterfly above
Size: Approximately 12.0 x 5.5 inches.
Date: Pre-1936.
Bears Shoson signature and seal.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo (W36-259)
Reference: S41.6 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Condition: Lighter area in upper left corner.
Note: This is the more rare creped version of this design.

Oversized Japanese sosaku hanga woodblock print by Fumio Kitaoka (1918-2007) depicting a fishing village. The bottom margin contains in pencil the title of the print (in kanji), artist’s proof (in French), the date 1959, and the artist's signature. Paper: 17 3/4" x 24 7/8" (image: 14 1/8" x 21 3/8"). Full margins. Very good overall condition...

Lilian May Miller (1895-1943)
The Little Shrines on Quiet Hills
Date: 1927.
Size: Approximately 5.625 x 3.75 inches.
From the book, Grass Blades from a Cinnamon Garden.
Monogrammed within the image.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Slight toning.

Design book of Japanese traditional patterns which are originally designed by Katsushika Hokusai (1760?~1849), a notable and prominent Ukiyo-e-shi. The title is "Shin-gata Kommon-cho", a new komon design book. It has a pair of two designs, which are woodblock print, black line in one page and colored in the other and each has a name. 74 patterns in a ciecle. In excellent condition. Published in Taisho 14 (1925) by Okamoto Ihei in Kyoto. 22cm x 17cm x 2cm

Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956)
Shopping at the Chang Men, 1925
(aka. Outside Chang Man Gate, Peking)
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.0 x 11.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Condition: Excellent with small surface spot at left edge. On verso, paper remnants at top corners. Title noted in pencil on back.

Woodblock print by Japanese sōsaku hanga (creative print) artist Rikio Takahashi (1917-1999) titled 'Old Drift'. Takahashi had a very unique style of abstract art. He often avoided primary colors and gravitated towards warm browns, cool blues and greens, typical of the gardens of Kyoto. He used irregular, abstract shapes and overlapping of colors to create beautiful and interesting effects. The print is set in a light wooden frame behind glass. Size: 24" height, 19" width (woodblock prin...

Takahashi Shotei
Fuji from a restng-booth
Date: pre-1936.
Size: Approximately 7.75 x 5.25 inches.
Shotei seal at right.
Reference: S-6 in Shotei catalog.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very faint diagonal crease in sky. Pencil note on back.

Shotei Takahashi (Hiroaki) (1871-1945)
Hunting Fireflies in Cool Breeze
Date: Pre-1923.
Size: Oban. 14.25 x 9.75 inches.
Shotei seal at left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Reference: O-41 in Shotei catalog.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Upper left corner rebuilt by conservator. Scuff in sky near tree. Wormholes (see illuminated last photo).
- The blocks for this rare print depicting a pond in Ota-ku were destroyed in the Great Kanto ...

Japanese woodblock print entitled "Moon at Umagome" by the artist Kawase Hasui. From the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo". Tall pine trees frame a full moon through the mist. A farm house with thatched roof shines light from a single window. Rows of crops are illuminated blue in the night. With black 6mm seal. Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Produced during the lifetime of the artist.

Age: 1944-1957

Dimensions: Paper size: 15 1/4" high x 10 1/8" wide

Ohara Hoson (Koson)
Flowering Lotus
Size: Oban. Approximately 14.25 x 9.5 inches.
Date: 1920s. First edition.
Publisher: Kawaguchi and Sakai. Publisher's seal in right margin. Carver (Maeda) and printer (Komatsu) seals in left margin.
Koson's "Hoson" signature and seal at lower right.
Made in Japan stamped on verso.
Reference: H43.4 and cat. 179 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock pr...

Toshi Yoshida (1911~1995)
Depicting: Snowy street
Print size: 5.5 x 3.75 inches.
A woodblock print tipped at the top to a Japanese Christmas card from 1953.
Bears the Yoshida seal.
Condition: Excellent.

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Springtime Evening, Ote Gate (Otemon no Haru no Yugure)
Date: 1952.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Edition: First state. Watanabe red 6mm seal lower right corner. Used 1946-1957.
Reference: Hotei #573.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Removed from original folder.

Kaoru Kawano
Camellia (G) (Tsubaki)
Date: 1950
Size: Double oban. 23.75 x 18 inches.
Edition: 46/200.
Self-carved by Kawano.
Sealed by the artist at lower right.
Signed, titled, and numbered at lower margin.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: The thick paper has some thinner areas on the back from removal from backing. Slight toning line in margin.

Ohara Koson
Frog on lotus leaf
Size: Shikishiban. Approximately 9.75 x 9.75 inches.
Date: 1900s.
Bears Koson signature and seal.
Publisher: Daikokuya (149).
Reference: K39.10 and plate 95 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Condition: Excellent with small thin spot near top leaf.
Provenance: The Bedford, NY estate of Eleanor Jay and Arthur Iselin. Eleanor Jay was a descendant of United States founding father,...

Ohara Shoson (Koson)
Goldfish
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1926. This edition post-1957.
Publisher: Watanabe. Round 7mm publisher's seal at lower right.
Reference: S39.6 and cat. 171 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Condition: Removed from original window matte. Slightly toned.

Yamakawa Shuho (1898 - 1944)
Premonition of Snow, 1927
Size: Oban, approximately 15.0 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Bijutsusha
Condition. Unframed. This print has had tears and toning professionally restored.
An intriguing bijin image with an unusual title.

Ito Yuhan
Tsukuda Jima
Date: 1930s.
The verso is stamped "Made in Occupied Japan," dating this edition between 1947-1952.
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.0 x 10.75 inches.
Publisher: Nishinomiya Yosaku. Seal at left margin.
Artist's signature at lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very good with inky area at upper right corner and one dot in left sky.

Shodo Kawarazaki (1889-1973)
Water Hyacinth (Mizuaoi)
Date: 1950s. Later edition.
Size: Oban. 16.0 x 10.75 inches.
Publisher: Unsodo. Publisher's "Gei" watermark at lower left. Carver and printer seals at left margin.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

A Japanese print done by the noted contemporary Japanese artist, Tadashi Nakayama (1927~). The image is a view of a section of a shrine building at Heian Jingu in Kyoto. Tadashi Nakayama is known for creating prints combining traditional elements from ukiyoe woodblocks and Western oil paintings. Age: 1961. Size: length 28.75" height 24.5"

Toshi Yoshida (1911~1995)
Snowy Red Temple
Date: Early 1950s.
Size: 5.5 x 3.75 inches.
Signed and sealed by the artist.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Ohara Koson
Nuthatcher Atop Persimmon
Size: O-tanzaku. Approximately 14.5 x 7.25 inches.
Date: ca. 1910s-1920s.
Koson seal lower right.
Publisher: Daikokuya (89)
Reference: K18.1 and in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Pencil notation on back.

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Title: Tokaido Numazu (Numazu, from the Processional Tokaido, a series on the arrival of the 14th shogun)
Date: 1863. First edition.
Size: 14.75 x 10 inches.
Publisher: Iseya Kanekichi (Isekane)
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Right margin has holes and pen mark. Light soling.

Japanese shin hanga woodblock print by Ito Yuhan (1882-1951) titled "Sailboats in the Sunset Glow" (aka Tsukuda Jima). This image is one of a limited number of woodblock prints by this artist that were published by Nishinomiya Yosaku in the 1930s. Signed in kanji at the lower right corner of the image. The publisher's seal is in the lower left margin in kanji and on the back in English. Paper: 15 5/8" x 10 5/8" (image: 14 5/8" x 9 5/8"). The painterly effect in Ito Yuhan's woodblock prints ...

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Evening at Soemon-cho, Osaka
Selection of Scenic Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition.
Date: 1933.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Watanabe red 6mm seal at lower right corner, indicating a lifetime edition printed between 1946 and 1957.
Signed and sealed by the artist.
Reference: Hotei #318.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Pristine. Removed from original folder.

Yoshimoto Gesso
Blue Bird on Plum Branch
Date: 1930s.
Print size: Approximately 9.625 x 5 inches.
Publisher: Nishinomiya Yosaku (Stamp on verso).
Artist's signature lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Back top edge has paper residue. Point-sized dot in sky.

Rain at Shinobazu Pond
Sealed "S". Artist unidentified.
Date: ca. 1940s.
Print size: 3.75 x 2.75 inches.
Publisher: Unsodo. From a group included in an Unsodo client sample book.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print attached along top edge only to original holiday card.
Condition: Tiny dot in sky.