Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.
A woodblock print associated with the name Arai Yoshimune, an artist who worked within the Utagawa school tradition during the transition from Meiji to Taisho Japan. Arai specialized in [kuchi-e](/glossary/kuchi-e), the lavish multi-color frontispiece illustrations inserted into literary magazines during the 1890s and 1900s. These prints were printed on high-quality paper using the full range of woodblock techniques — metallic pigments, blind embossing, and mica grounds. Beyond magazine illustration, Arai produced [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) prints depicting beautiful women and contributed to the visual culture of an era when Japanese printmaking was evolving from artisan craft toward fine art status under the [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) publishers.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Arai, Yoshimune was created by Yoshimune Arai (荒井芳宗).
Arai, Yoshimune depicts figures and bijin-ga.
