$200–$1,500. Common subjects: $200–$500. Key value factors: Kamei Tobei's prints are modestly priced and accessible to collectors of shin-hanga landscapes.
This [oban](/glossary/oban) woodblock print depicts the Uzumasa Ox Festival (Ushi Matsuri), a distinctive folk ritual held at Koryu-ji Temple in the Uzumasa district of western Kyoto. The festival, associated with prayers for agricultural prosperity, features a masked figure riding an ox through the temple grounds in a nocturnal procession. The combination of the large animal, masked performers, and torch-lit darkness creates a visually dramatic subject for the woodblock medium. Kamei's rendering captures a ritual that connects urban Kyoto to its agrarian roots, when the relationship between humans and working animals was central to survival. The ox, decorated for the festival occasion, becomes both a living participant and a symbol of the earth's fertility. The print documents a local observance less well known than Kyoto's major festivals but deeply rooted in the community's religious calendar.
Hebizukai
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
1935
Color woodblock print; oban
1964
Acrylic paint and oil pastel with oiled charcoal and ink over an ink and graphite underdrawing on paper
1964
Color lithograph with relief block and hand coloring; edition 35/36
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Uzumasa Ox Festival - 太秦牛祭 was created by Kamei Tobei (亀井東平).
Uzumasa Ox Festival - 太秦牛祭 depicts animals and summer.
