Catalog: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese (765)

Hiratsuka Un-ichi (1895 ~ 1997)
Selected Woodcuts By Un-ichi Hiratsuka
Date: 1954
Publisher: Nippon Geijyutsu Hangasha
This rare book contains 30 lithographic plates (23 black-and-white, 7 color) by the renowned sosaku hanga artist. English and Japanese text.
Size: 14.25 x 10.5 inches.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Very good. Light toning and foxing.

Ito Takashi
Mt. Fuji from Yamanaka
Date: 1952.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Artist's signature at lower left.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Tokuriki Tomikichiro
Sanjo Bridge
Date: Likely 1940s-50s.
Size: Tanzaku (pillar) 14.25 x 3 inches.
Signed "Tomi" at lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print on decorative board as originally issued.
Condition: Slight toning near bottom.
Note: This is the only example of this wonderful design that we could locate.

Toshi Yoshida (1911~1995)
Depicting: Snow scene
A woodblock print tipped at the top to a Japanese Christmas card from the early 1950s. Please photo of the inside of the card.
Signed "T. Yoshida"
Condition: Excellent.

Ohara Koson (Shoson)
Cockatoo and Pomegranate
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1927. This edition 1946-1957.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe 6mm seal at lower left.
Shoson signature and seal lower right...

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Moon at Magome
Date: 1930.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Printed during the artist's lifetime with Watanabe 6mm (used 1946-57) at lower right.
Reference: Hotei #165.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent...

Kawase Hasui
Mount Fuji in Moonlight, Kawaibashi
Date: 1947.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Bears the black 6 mm Watanabe seal in the lower right corner, indicating a first state printed between 1946-1957.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Reference: Hotei #241.
Condition: Paper is lightly toned on front. More heavily on back.

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Meguro Fudo Temple, 1931
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Black, round Watanabe 6 mm seal at lower left, indicating a lifetime edition made between 1946 and 1957.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Reference: Hotei #263.
Condition: Two original drying pinholes at left margin. Top margin has a few faint, diagonal marks.

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.

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.

Kawase Hasui
Rain at Shinobazu Pond
Date: 1929.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. A lifetime edition bearing the Watanabe 6 mm seal faintly on the bench to the right of the Hasui seal.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Top back margin has two pieces of tape.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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
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...

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.

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.

Paul Jacoulet
The Wandering Buddhist Priest, Korea (Le Bonze Errant, Corée)
Date: 1948.
Edition 165/350. (Fewer than 50 impressions from this edition were produced.)
Print size: Approximately 18.5 x 14.375 inches.
Publisher: Self-published by the artist.
Carver: Maeda. Printer: Honda.
Signed, and sealed with the "peach" seal. PJ watermark.
Reference: No...

Cyrus leRoy Baldridge (1889-1977)
Soo-Chow Canal
Date: 1944.
Size: 16.5 x 12.25 inches.
Signed, titled, and dated by the artist.
Medium: Etching.
Condition: Creasing primarily in margins. Please see last photo. Marks in margin. Small tear at mid-right margin.
Note: Cyrus Baldridge was also a woodblock print artist. See examples in our gallery.

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.

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.

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
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...

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.

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...

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.

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.

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
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. A faint foxing spot on the snowy r...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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
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. 79 in The Prints of Paul Jacoulet by Richard Miles
Condition: Excellent.
Note: Miles writes, "one of only three prints that do not contain any human figures....The pale blue background is very fugitive and is rarely found unfaded." That pale bl...

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. Top back center...

Hiroshige Ando
Suidobashi, Surugadai (Suido Bridge and Surugadai)
Date: Thursday, December 3, 1931.
Size: 7.625 x 5 inches (19.5 x 12.6 cm).
Note: Concert and tea party menu for the passenger ship Chichibu Maru on the N.Y.K. Line.
Publisher: Nippon Mokuhan Co. Tokio (Japan Woodblock Co. Tokyo).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print made from a carved wood block. Mechanization may have been added to the printing process.
Condition: Cover woodblock print very good to...

Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956)
Little Pavilion, Peking, 1935.
(aka. Little Pavilion, Coal Hill, Peking)
Size: Approximately 14.75 x 9.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Condition: Excellent with a couple of very faint creases. Title noted in pencil on back.

Shoda Koho
Moonlit Sea
From the Hasegawa Night Scenes series.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 9.75 x 7 inches.
Date: 1910-1938.
Publisher: Hasegawa/Nishinomiya Yosaku.
An early marginless edition as originally issued.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Two thin surface scratches - lower left and top. Top back corners have paper residue. Two small surface marks in water near right horizon.

Arai Yoshimune
Suma Beach
The figures carrying pails are making salt.
Date 1930s.
Size: Oban. 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Unsigned.
Publisher: Nishinomiya Yosaku. Seal at left margin and back.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso. Marked #103.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Toning. Faint surface scuff on beach. Upper right margin corner crease. Back corners have mounting residue.

Katsuhira Tokushi (1904-1971)
Five Kinds of Sleigh - Akita Prefecture
Date: 1932.
Image size: Approximately 5.5 x 3.75 inches.
Prints are tipped along top edge to 9.5 x 7.0 card.
Folder included.
1. Hako Sori (Box Sleigh), 2. Naga Sori (Long Sleigh), 3. Uma Sori (Horse Sleigh), 4. Kazu Sori (Kazu Sleigh), 5. Ba Sori (Commuting Sleigh).
The artist has signed the Box Sleigh panel in pen "Katsuhira Tokushi May 17, 1951".
Note: Katsuhira Tokushi was a true fol...

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Nippori
Date: 1930s. First and only edition.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 9.75 x 7 inches.
Publisher: Takemura Hideo. Seal at lower right. Publisher's stamp at verso.
Koitsu's "Shinsei" seal at lower left.
Koitsu catalog no.: TK-TM-61.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Condition: Found framed without margins. Slight vertical crease in center. Small foxing spot under tree.

Kawase Hasui
Deer Strolling Along Kasuga Shrine, Nara
From the series, Shinto and Its Architecture.
Date: 1936.
Size: Koban. Approximately 7.5 x 5.25 inches.
Provenance: The Robert O. Muller estate.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Reference: Hotei #Hb-s7
Condition: Excellent.

Eagle Perched on a Cliff
Artist: Not Known.
Date: ca 1930s.
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Size: Approximately 8.5 x 3.75 inches
Provenance: The Robert O. Muller Estate.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Original white kento mark at the lower right corner.

Ohara Koson
Wading Egret With Reeds
Size: Shikishiban. Approximately 11.25 x 10.5 inches.
Date: 1930s.
Koson signature and seal at lower right.
Publisher: Daikokuya (Matsuki Heikichi). This edition published by Kawaguchi.
Reference: AK14.15 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
"Made in Japan" and "No. 25" stamped on verso.
Condition: Excellent with faint dot of foxing on bird's back. Pencil notes at back margi...

Kawase Hasui
Snow at Koshigaya
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.375 x 10.25 inches.
Date: 1935. First edition.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Publisher's "E seal" (used 1932-42) in right margin.
Signed and sealed by the artist.
Reference: Hotei #353
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Slight toning. Bump at tip of lower left margin corner.