Catalog: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Woodblock Prints (748)

Kawase Hasui
Mount Inari, Nagano Prefecture (Nagano-ken, Inariyama)
Date: 1947.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Black 6 mm Watanabe seal in the lower right corner, indicating a first state printed between 1946-1957.
Stamped "Original Works of Art", a seal that sometimes appears on the verso.
Reference: Hotei #500.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Paul Jacoulet
Les Jades, Mandchoukuo
1940s~1950s.
Approximately 6.0 x 4.0 inches.
Self-published, one of a series of surimono.
Signed and sealed by the artist.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Attached along top edge only to original card.

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.

Ohara Koson (Shoson)
Magpie and Magnolia
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1931. This edition 1946-1957.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe 6 mm seal at lower left.
Shoson signature and seal lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Reference: S5.1 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Condition: Excellent. Point-sized mark at bottom edge...

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Four Small Woodblock Prints
Titles: Kiyomizu Temple, Arashiyama, Kawaguchi Lake, and Kintai Bridge in Iwaki
Date: 1940s-50s.
Size: Approximately 3.5 x 2.25 inches.
Publisher: Shobido Tanaka.
Koitsu catalog nos. TK-SB-50, TK-SB-51, TK-SB-52, TK-SB-53.
These woodblock prints are tipped at the top edge to the covers of blank bridge tallies.
Condition: Excellent.

Kiyoshi Saito
Maiko
Date: ca. 1960.
Size: Oban. Approximately 17.25 x 11.5 inches.
Pencil signed and sealed by Saito.
Self-published by the artist.
Silver mica is used on the collar.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Back margins have adhesive residue.

Takahashi Shotei (Hiroaki)
"Tama" (aka. White Cat on Black Background)
Date: 1924. This edition printed between 1946-1957.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears the red 6 mm seal at lower left.
Size: Oban. Approximately 13.25 x 9.5 inches.
Condition: Trimmed margins. Light scuffing.
The cat is beautifully embossed as shown in photo 2.

Eijiro Kobayashi
Pagoda by Moonlight
Approximately 10.25 x 7.5 inches.
Date: 1938-1960.
Red "Eijiro" seal at lower right.
Publisher: Nishinomiya Yosaku. From the "Hasegawa Night Scenes" series. Hasegawa catalogue No. 1243.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Kawase Hasui
Kyonghwe Pavilion, Kyongsong
Series: Eight Views of Korea
Date: 1939. This edition 1943-45.
Size: Dai-oban. Approximately 16.75 x 11.75 inches.
Hasui signature and seal lower left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. G seal at right margin. Used 1942-45.
Printer: Ono Gintaro. Seal in right margin. Used 1943-1947. Reference: Hotei No. 436.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very good to excellent...

Hiratsuka Un-ichi (1895 ~ 1997)
Nihonbashi Bridge in Tokyo (aka. Night at Nihonbashi Bridge)
Date: 1946
Card size: Approximately 6.0 x 4.25 inches.
This woodblock print is the front cover of a Christmas/New Year card signed in pen by the artist at the inside.
Reference: Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Ohno Bakufu
Flying Fish (Tobiuo)
Series: Familiar Fishes of Japan (Dai Nihon gyorui gashu)
Size: Oban. Approximately 16 x 11.25 inches.
Date: 1938.
Edition: No. 260 (noted on back in pencil).
Publisher: Kyoto Hanga-in. Publisher's seals on back in English and Japanese.
Artist's signature and seal upper right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print employing mica and gofun highlights.
Condition: Light toning to former matte edge. Verso toned...

Paul Jacoulet
Cactus, Mers du Sud (Cactus, South Seas)
Date: November 20, 1941.
Edition: 99/350. Fewer than 250 impressions made.
Size: 19 x 14 inches.
Sparrow seal. Carver: Maeda. Printer: Uchikawa
Reference: No...

Ohno Bakufu
Rice Reaping
Date: ca. 1950.
Size: Oban. 15 x 10.5 inches
Publisher: Kyoto Hanga-In
Carver: Matsuda. Printer: Ichimura
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Top margin has thin tape mark.

Kawase Hasui
Spring Rain at Gokokuji
Size: Oban. Approximately 16 x 10.75 inches.
Date: 1932.
This edition 1948-50.
Publisher: Doi Hangaten. Carver: Katsumura (same carver as first edition). Printer: Ito.
Doi publisher's watermark at upper left corner margin.
Artist's signature and seal at upper right.
Condition: A surface dot on the base of the lantern. A few light margin creases...

Paul Jacoulet
Souvenirs d'Autrefois: Japon (Memories of the Past, Japan)
Date: 1941.
Print size: Approximately 6.25 x 4.25 inches.
Publisher: Self-published, from a series of surimono.
Reference: No. 78, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet (Miles).
Print is tipped along its top edge at the inside of an original Christmas card.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Lower margin has very faint matte line. Card has tape marks.

Kawase Hasui
Late Autumn at Lake Yamanaka
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.5 inches.
Date: 1947
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears the Watanabe 6 mm seal, consistent with a lifetime strike and first edition.
Condition: Excellent. Light tone at margin.
A breathtaking view of Mount Fuji with sunlit foreground in a rarely seen Hasui design.

Hiroshi Yoshida
Little Harbour
Date: 1941.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 10.375 x 7.825 inches.
Signed and sealed in the image. Titled and signed in pencil.
Jizuri seal at upper left margin indicating self-printing by the artist.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Kawase Hasui
Shirozaki, Tajima, 1924.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears the Watanabe C (sausage) seal indicating printing between 1929-1942.
Signed in purple and sealed in red by the artist.
Condition: Excellent.

Ito Takashi
Late Autumn at Yachi in Towadako National Park (Charcoal-Making at Lake Towada National Park)
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Date: 1950.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. A first edition bearing the round, black 6 mm seal in the lower right corner.
Condition: Very slight fading evident at image edge. - A rarely seen print.

Kanmei F. K. (Active 1940s)
General Douglas MacArthur, 1947.
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.75 x 11.0 inches.
Edition: First and only.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears rarely used Watanabe seal at lower right margin.
Carver: Aoyanagi Isao (seal)
Printer: Ono Gintaro (seal)
Sealed by the artist and signed in English and Japanese.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Paper slightly toned. Small surface spot at right...

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Spring in Daigo, Kyoto
Date: 1950.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Black 6 mm seal at lower right, indicating a first edition (1946-57).
Hasui signature and seal at lower left.
Size: Oban. 15.25 x 10.5 inches.
Reference: Hotei #537.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: At the perimeter of the verso, a conservator has removed tape and reinforced the paper.

Kasamatsu Shiro (1898-1991)
Misty Evening at Shinobazu Pond
Date: 1932.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
First edition. Watanabe sausage seal (in use 1929-42).
Shiro seal lower left.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Faint matte line near image edge. Pinhole at margin edge. Light toning and fading.

Koichi Okumura (1904 ~ 1974)
Red Mt. Fuji from Shojin Lake
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10 inches.
Date: 1948. First edition.
Publisher: Unsodo.
Carver: Nagashima. Printer: Shinmi.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Paul Jacoulet
Le Nid, Coree (The Nest, Korea).
Date: December 14, 1941.
Size: Dai-oban.
Edition: 120/150. Prints from this original edition of 150, which has more muted colors, are exceedingly rare.
Carver: Maeda.
Condition: Very good...

Urushibara Mokuchu (Yoshijiro) (1888-1953)
Horse (Facing Upward)
Date: ca. 1940s.
Size: Oban. Approximately 14.75 x 10.75 inches.
Signed "Y. Urushibara" in pencil.
Sealed "Mokuchu".
Round watermark at top margin.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.
Removed from original folder.

Nihonbashi
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: Excellent.

Kyoto Kinkakuji
Artist not known.
Date: 1930s-40s
Print size: 5.75 x 3.5 inches.
Publisher: Takemura Hideo. Seal at lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: A couple of small points of foxing at upper back.

Kawase Hasui
Woman walking in snow with dog
Date: Early postwar.
Image size. Approximately 5.75 x 3.75 inches.
The woodblock print is tipped at the top to an original early postwar Christmas card.
Condition: Print is excellent. Card is slightly worn.

Paul Jacoulet
The Wandering Buddhist Priest, Korea (Le Bonze Errant, Corée)
Date: 1948.
Edition 165/350...

Kawase Hasui
Snow at Heian Shrine Kyoto
Date: 1948
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe 6mm seal at lower right, indicating a first state produced between 1946-1957.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.75 x 10.5 inches.
Reference: Hotei #510.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Top margin has two original drying pinholes.

Kawase Hasui
Nakhwa Puyo (Fuyo Rakkagan). From the series Eight Views of Korea (Chosen Hakkei).
Date: 1939.
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.5 x 11.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe H seal at right margin used 1942-1945. Printer Ono Gintaro seal at lower right margin. This edition was printed 1943-45.
Reference: Hotei #433.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Tiny indentation at lower border line. "Nakhwa (Rock of the falling flowers) is s...

Paul Jacoulet
Chagrin d'Amour: Kusai (Sorrows of Love, Kusaie, East Carolines)
Date: 1940.
Print size: Approximately 6.25 x 4.25 inches.
Publisher: Self-published, from a series of surimono.
Reference: No. 70, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet (Miles).
Print is tipped along its top edge at the inside of an original Christmas card.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Margin has very faint matte line. Card has tape marks. Slight wave at top of paper.

Ide Gakusui
Heron in Rain
Date: ca. 1950.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Artist's signature and seal lower right.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Round, red 6mm seal lower left, which is consistent with a first edition (produced 1946-1957).
Embossing is featured on the snowy egret's body. Please see enlargement 2.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Adhered to board via contact sheet.

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.

Ishiwata Koitsu (aka. Yoshimi) (1897-1987)
Water Wheel in Snow
Date: 1930s. Early postwar edition.
Print size: Approximately 5.5 x 3.75 inches.
Publisher:Watanabe Shozaburo.
Koitsu's "Yoshimi" signature at lower right.
Medium: Woodblock print attached top edge only to a holiday card from Japanese and US representatives.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Masaharu Aoyama (1893-1969)
Nikolai-do (Nikorai-do) in Snow (An Orthodox cathedral in Tokyo)
Date: ca. 1940s.
Print size: 3.75 x 2.75 inches.
Publisher: Unsodo. From a group included in an Unsodo client sample book.
Aoyama's "Ao" seal at lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print attached along top edge only to original holiday card.
Condition: Excellent.

Paul Jacoulet
Les Perles, Mandchoukuo
Size: Dai-oban.
Date: December 28, 1950.
Edition: 297/350.
Carver: Maeda, Printer: Ogawa.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very good color and condition. Toning at back.
"More than 300 individual impressions of nearly 60 blocks were needed to create this ultimate technical tour de force of twentieth century art." - Richard Miles, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet.

Ohara Shoson (Koson)
Snow on Willow Bridge
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1927.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. With Watanabe C seal (Used 1929-42).
Shoson signature and seal.
Reference: S44.3 and image #166 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: A conservator has repaired top margin blanks and tears. One had impinged on the image.
Note: One...

Hiroshi Yoshida
Tansui (Danshui, China)
Date: 1941.
Print size: Chuban. 10.625 x 8 inches.
Brush signed and sealed in the image. Titled and signed in pencil in lower margin.
Jizuri seal at upper left margin indicating a first edition self-printed by the artist.
Publisher: Hiroshi Yoshida
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Reference: Abe catalog #244.
Condition: Some toning and fading. Tape at top back margin.

Kawase Hasui
Tanigumi Temple, Mino
Date: 1947.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
A first edition bearing the 6mm seal in the lower right corner.
Reference: Hotei #498. "The Tanigumi temple was first built in 798 and belongs to the Tendai sect of Buddhism. Mino province corresponds to part of present-day Gifu prefecture."
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent color. Light crease at top center. Ori...

Paul Jacoulet
Le Mandarin Aux Lunettes, Mandchoukuo (The Mandarin with Glasses, Manchuria).
Date: May 22, 1950.
Size: Dai-oban. Approximately 19 x 14 inches.
Edition: 231/250.
Carver: Maeda, Printer: Uchikawa.
"Note the mica of the lenses, made by using crushed pink pearls." - Richard Miles, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Slight fading. Toning on verso.

Paul Jacoulet
L'Attente, Celebes Menado
Size: Dai-oban.
Date: September 15, 1947.
Edition: 175/350.
Carver: Maeda, Printer: Fujii.
Condition: Excellent.
"The pink background is sprinkled with bits of silver leaf… The curl of smoke from the lady's cigarette is gauffrage." - Richard Miles, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet.

Paul Jacoulet
Le Tresor, Coree (The Treasure, Korea)
Date: May 21, 1940.
Size: Approximately 18.25 x 14 inches.
Jacoulet signature and watermark with butterfly seal.
Edition: 155/250.
Carver: Maeda. Printer: Honda.
Reference: Print #66 in The Prints of Paul Jacoulet by Richard Miles
Condition: Excellent.
"This classic scene of mother and child is one of Jacoulet's best received prints." - Miles

Kawase Hasui
Mt. Fuji Seen From Oshino (Oshino no Fuji)
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.625 x 10.5 inches.
Date: 1942. First edition.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Publisher's "G seal" in right margin (used 1942-45).
Signed and sealed by the artist.
Reference: Hotei #465.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Shrine in Forest
Seal not read. Artist unidentified. Elsewhere attributed to Okamoto Kouen
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: Excellent.

Kawase Hasui
Postal Life Insurance Office
Date: ca. 1930s/1940s.
Size: 5.5 x 3.5 inches.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Hasui seal at lower right.
Rare genuine woodblock-printed postcard.
Condition: Front is excellent. Verso has residue at top corners.

Kawase Hasui
Hie Shrine
Date: 1936.
Size: Koban. Approximately 7.5 x 5.0 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears the oval Hasui seal.
Condition: Excellent.

Ohara Shoson (Koson)
Two wild ducks near water; reeds behind
A well-known woodblock print and the original watercolor on board on which it was based.
Date: 1930s.
Watercolor size: 14 x 7 inches.
Woodblock print size: Approximately 15 x 6.75 inches.
Date: 1930s.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Shoson signature and seal on each.
Reference: S7.4 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Amy Reigle Newland).
Condition of waterc...

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.

Takahashi Shotei
Red temple in rain; priest over the steps
Date: ca. 1920s-30s.
Size: 5.75 x 3.5 inches
Reference: S-7 in Shotei catalog.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.
Compare with our Shotei127.

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...

Kawase Hasui
Sacred Mount Fuji
Date: 1936.
Size: Koban. Approximately 7.25 x 4.875 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Hasui oval seal at lower right.
Reference: Hotei #Hb-s12
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Back top corners have tape remnants.

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Kyoto Kiyomizu Temple
Publisher: Takemura Hideo. Round Takemura seal.
Date: 1930-40s.
Size: 5.5 x 3.5 inches.
Titled and sealed by the artist.
Reference: TK-TM-140.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent

Kawase Hasui
Snow at Arakawa River
Date: 1930s.
Size: Approximately 5.75 x 3.75 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Reference: Hotei: Hp-39.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Peerless Mount Fuji
Unsigned. Artist not identified.
Date: 1934.
Size: Oban. Approximately 13.75 x 10 inches.
Origin: Issued as a folded insert to an N.Y.K. Line publication called, "Glimpses of the East". The folds are vertical.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: A faint foxing spot at the upper left.
The composition of this print is reminiscent of the Fuji views of Tsuchiya Koitsu.

Katsuhira Tokushi
Kamado (Cooking Stove)
Customs of Akita series.
Date: 1939.
Self-published by the artist.
Size: Oban. Approximately 16.0 x 11.5 inches.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very good. Outstanding color. Toning at margins, back and upper right corner. Tape at back top margin.

Artist: Yamamoto (seal)
Gotemba in Snow
Bears artist's seal.
Publisher: Takemura Hideo. Bears round Takemura seal.
Date: 1930s. Collected after WWII but very likely from Takemura's pre-war stock.
Size: 5.5 x 3.5 inches.
Tipped at top to original greeting card.
Condition: Print is very good. Card is discolored.

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.

Takahashi Shotei
Morning Fog
Date: Early. Not known.
Size: Approximately 7.25 x 4.825 inches.
Shotei seal lower right.
Reference: S-126 in Shotei catalog.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Slight crease lower left corner. Pencil note on back.
Note: Shotei.com notes that this print is probably pre-earthquake due to its rarity.

Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956)
Chinese Matriarch, Soochow
Date: 1934.
Sheet size: 17.625 x 13.625 inches. Image size: 13.25 x 11.75 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Signed and titled in pencil by the artist.
Medium: Colored etching.
Provenance: Henry McBride collection.
Condition: Upper right corner margin crease. Tape at top back margin.
Notes: Richard Miles opined that this is one of Keith's greatest images and noted that the etching was produced...