1780s Japanese Woodblock Prints
447 prints from the 1780s in our collection, created during the Edo Period (1603–1868). The Edo period saw the rise of ukiyo-e, the iconic woodblock print tradition depicting the floating world of pleasure districts, kabuki actors, beautiful women, and landscapes. Under the Tokugawa shogunate's peaceful rule, a thriving urban culture in Edo (modern Tokyo) fueled demand for affordable printed art.
Top Artists of the 1780s
Prints (447)
'Onoe Matsusuke I in his dressing room'
1781-1783
'Six Beauties of the Higest Renown'
ca.1789
'The poet Ton'ya No Sakafune visiting the brothel district'
1780-1790
'Views from the Women's Quarters of the Inn'
ca.1789
A Celebration of Actors (Yakusha mono iwai)
役者物祝
1784
Illustrated books, 2 volumes; a: 16 leaves; b: 13 leaves
A Chushingura Parody
c. 1787
Color woodblock print; hashira-e (pillar print)
A Contemporary Parody of Komachi Prays for Rain (Tosei yatsushi Amagoi Komachi)
c. 1792
Color woodblock print; oban
A Disguised Scene from The Tale of Genji (Fūryū Yatsushi Genji), Chapter 33, “Wisteria Leaves (Fuji no uraba)”
ca. 1794
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
A Fan Peddler Passing Beneath a Balcony
c. 1786
Color woodblock prints; vertical oban diptych
A Fashionable Female Version of the Shikisanban Dance (Furyu onna shikisanban)
c. 1788/89
Color woodblock print; oban
A Ferry on the Sumida River
c. 1787
Color woodblock print; center sheet of oban triptych
A Long-Tailed Fowl (Onagadori), from the series Twelve Assorted Birds (Shochō jūnikin)
ca. 1791
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
A Noble Young Lady, from the series A Bright Mirror of Feminine Manners (Onna fuzoku masukagami)
c. 1790
Color woodblock print; chuban
A Parody of the Tales of Ise
c. 1789/95
Color woodblock print; right sheet of oban triptych
A Party Viewing the Moon Across the Sumida River
c. 1787
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
A Perspective View: The Two Deva Kings Gate of Kinryuzan Temple (Ukie: Kinryuzan niomon no zu)
1781/89
Color woodblock print
A Picnic Party at Hagidera
c. 1785/95
Diptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
A procession of women holding shimadai decorations
c. 1789/1801
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
A Romantic Scene
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
A Selection of Beauty from the Pleasure Quarters (Seiro bijin awase): Courtesans Hired for the New Years Holidays - Takigawa of the Ogiya
c. 1794
Color woodblock print; oban
A visit to a shrine, from the series "Twelve Scenes of Popular Customs (Fuzoku juni tsui)"
c. 1786
Color woodblock print; koban
A Woman and Two Maids, from the series "A Mirror of Feminine Manners (Onna fuzoku masu kagami)"
c. 1790
Color woodblock print; chuban
A Woman's Poetry Party
c. 1793
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
A Young Man Dressed as an Actor of the Ichikawa Family (by Shunsho), a Maid and a Geisha (by Shuncho)
late 1780s
Color woodblock print; aiban
Act Eight: The Bridal Journey (Michiyuki) from the play Chushingura (Treasury of the Forty-seven Loyal Retainers)
late 1780s
Color woodblock print; koban
Act II (Nidanme), from the series "Perspective Pictures of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Uki-e kanadehon Chushingura)"
c. 1791/94
Color woodblock print; horizontal o-oban
Act III (Sandanme), from the series "Perspective Pictures of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Uki-e kanadehon Chushingura)"
c. 1791/94
Color woodblock print; horizontal o-oban
Act IV (Yondanme), from the series "Perspective Pictures of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Uki-e kanadehon Chushingura)"
c. 1791/94
Color woodblock print; horizontal o-oban
Act VI (Rokudanme), from the series "Perspective Pictures of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Uki-e kanadehon Chushingura)"
c. 1791/94
Color woodblock print; horizontal o-oban
Act VII (Shichidanme), from the series "Perspective Pictures of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Uki-e kanadehon Chushingura)"
c. 1791/94
Color woodblock print; horizontal o-oban
Act VII: The Ichiriki Teahouse in the play Chushingura Juichidan Tsuzuki
c. 1786
Color woodblock print; chuban
Act VIII (Hachidanme), from the series "Perspective Pictures of the Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Uki-e kanadehon Chushingura)"
c. 1791/94
Color woodblock print; horizontal o-oban
Actor Asao Tamejûrô I as Drunken Gotôbei Doing a Sambasô Dance in “Yoshitsune’s Koshigoe Petition” (“Yoshitsune Koshigoe jô”)
About 1790
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Actor Ichikawa Komazô III as Nyosan no Miya (The Third Princess), Ukare Zatô (A Blind Street Performer), and Sakata no Kaidô-maru in “Expanded Summer Festival” (“Zôho natsu matsuri”)
About 1791
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Mori no Rammaru in “Muromacho Chronicle in Kana Script” (“Kanagaki Muromachi bundan”)
About 1791
Color woodblock print; hosoban triptych
Actor Iwai Hanshirô IV as Akita Jônosuke Yoshikage in a “Shibaraku” role in “Memorial Service for St. Nichiren: A Model of ‘The Potted Trees’”(“Mieiko Nori no Hachi no Ki”)
About 1791
Color woodblock print; aiban
Actor Nakayama Tomisaburô as a Shirabyôshi Dancer in “The Maiden at Dôjô Temple” (“Musume Dôjô-ji”)
About 1794
Color woodblock print; ôban
Actor Sakata Hangorô III as Takechi Mitsuhide in “Muromacho Chronicle in Kana Script” (“Kanagaki Muromachi bundan”)
About 1791
Color woodblock print; hosoban triptych
Actor Sawamura Sôjûrô III as Oda Kazusanosuke Harunaga in “Muromacho Chronicle in Kana Script” (“Kanagaki Muromachi bundan”)
About 1791
Color woodblock print; hosoban triptych
Actor Segawa Kikunojô III Possibly as Ono no Komachi in “Komachi Village: New Year at the Theater” (“Komachimura shibai no shôgatsu”)
About 1789
Color woodblock print; hosoban diptych
Actors Kataoka Gado II as Florist (Hanaya) Tokubei (R) and Nakamura Daikichi III as Tokubei's Wife (Tsuma) Ofusa (L)
1855
Color woodblock print
Actors Kataoka Gado II as Florist (Hanaya) Tokubei (R) and Nakamura Daikichi III as Tokubei's Wife (Tsuma) Ofusa (L)
1855
Color woodblock print
Actors Mimasu Tokujirô I as Hayano Kampei (Left) and Nakayama Kojûrô VI as Ono Sadakurô (Right) in “Treasury of the 47 Loyal Retainers” (“Kanadehon chûshingura”)
About 1786
Color woodblock prints; hosoban diptych
Actors Nakayama Kojûrô VI as Osada Tarô Kagemune and Sawamura Sôjûrû III as Komatsu no Shigemori in “Snow-Covered Bamboo: Genji in Long Sleeves” (Yukimotsu Take Furisode Genji)
About 1785
Color woodblock print; aiban
Actors Representing the Feat of Asahina Breaking the Armer of Soga no Goro (Hirakawa-cho Yamamoto-cho kusazuribiki odori yatai) from the series The Festival of the Sanno Shrine (Sanno go-sairei)
1780
Color woodblock print; chuban
Admiring the wisteria at the Kameido Shrine
c. 1786
Color woodblock print; oban diptych
Akashi of the Tamaya, from the series Seven Komachis of Yoshiwara (Seiro nana Komachi) (Tamaya uchi Akashi, Uraji, Shimano)
Woodblock print
An Actors' Boating Party on the Sumida River
c. 1789
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
An Elegant Parody of the Six Poetic Immortals (Furyu yatsushi rokkasen): The Priest Kisen
c. 1793
Color woodblock print; oban
An Incident from the Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari)
ca. 1790
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Ancient Poems (Waka) and Ebisu (One of Seven Lucky Gods): Events of New Year's Day with Kyōka (Waka Ebisu)
Mid Edo period, 1789
Folded book; ink, color and gold on paper
Arashi Murajiro as a Courtesan Holding a Letter
late 1780s
color woodblock print
Around the Kotatsu
c. 1789
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
Asahina Saburo throwing beans
n.d.
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Ashi-gai, hamaguri, ko-gai, suzume-gai, akoya-gai, and katashi-gai, from the illustrated book "Gifts from the Ebb Tide (Shiohi no tsuto)"
1789
Color woodblock print; double-page illustration from book
Bandō Hikosaburō III in the Role of Sugawara no Michizane
ca. 1796
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Battle Scene at Yashima-Dannoura
c. 1780
Color woodblock print; oban
Beauties Parodying the Seven Sages - A Selection of Younger Courtesans (Shichi kenjin yatsushi bijin shinzo zoroe): Kumegawa of the Ogiya
c. 1793
Color woodblock print; oban
Bellflowers (Asagao), from the series Genji in Fashionable Modern Guise (Fūryū yatsushi Genji: Asagao)
1789–92
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Beni-gai, hora-gai, urauzu-gai, wasure-gai, chiyonohana-gai, and masuho-gai, from the illustrated book "Gifts from the Ebb Tide (Shiohi no tsuto)"
1789
Color woodblock print; double-page illustration from book
Nearby Decades
Frequently Asked Questions
Hanga catalogues 447 Japanese woodblock prints created during the 1780s (Edo Period, 1603–1868).
The 1780s fall within the Edo Period (江戸時代), which ran from 1603 to 1868.
Torii Kiyonaga, Chōbunsai Eishi, and Katsukawa Shun'ei are among the artists with the most 1780s prints in our collection.
Explore all Japanese printmaking eras
View all eras