$300–$2,000. Common prints: $300–$800. Key value factors: Sano's landscape prints are modestly priced and accessible to collectors.
The Lying Dragon [Sakura](/glossary/sakura) (臥龍桜) is a celebrated ancient cherry tree in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, whose massive trunk extends horizontally along the ground before rising upward, resembling a reclining dragon. Sano's 1996 [oban](/glossary/oban) woodblock print conveys the tree's enormous lateral spread, with gnarled limbs supporting cascades of pale pink blossoms. The trunk's tortuous shape gives the composition a sense of coiled energy, as though the centuries-old tree might stir at any moment. Surrounding foliage frames the sakura without crowding it, and the viewer's eye follows the trunk's serpentine path from root to crown. The mythological dragon reference embedded in the tree's name becomes visually legible in the wood's sinuous contours.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Lying Dragon Sakura — 臥龍桜 was created by Sano Seiji (佐野精二) in 1996.
Lying Dragon Sakura — 臥龍桜 depicts landscapes, cherry blossoms, and mythology.
