1920s Japanese Woodblock Prints
815 prints from the 1920s in our collection, created during the Taishō Era (1912–1926). The brief Taishō era witnessed the birth of two pivotal movements that would revitalize Japanese printmaking. Watanabe Shozaburo launched the shin-hanga (new prints) movement, collaborating with artists like Kawase Hasui and Hiroshi Yoshida to produce exquisite landscape prints using traditional carver-printer-publisher teamwork.
Top Artists of the 1920s
Prints (815)

15th Arrondissement of Paris
パリ15区街
1925
Oil on canvas

A Bar
酒売り場
1927
Oil on canvas
A Boat Crossing a Large River
大河渡舟図
1926
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
![A Boat Laden with Masonry, Awa Province (Ishizumu fune [Boshu]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, First Series (Tabi miyage dai isshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/1d1e45a7-2153-e530-e16e-4ea11472525c/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
A Boat Laden with Masonry, Awa Province (Ishizumu fune [Boshu]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, First Series (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Ishizumu fune [Boshu]
1920
Color woodblock print; oban

A Canal in Venice
1925
Woodblock print

A Japanese Beauty
1920

A Journey
20th century
Color woodblock print
A Merry Christmas to You
1924
Etching on paper

A Section of the Byodo Temple at Uji (Uji Byodoin no ichibu), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
Uji Byodoin no ichibu
1921
Color woodblock print; oban

A Spring Picnic in the Field
circa 1910-1930s
Color woodblock print

A Stone Lantern on the Seashore
circa 1910-1930s
Color woodblock print
![A Water Conduit, A Scene in Sado (Mizuagehi [Sado shoken]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/98bdd980-0d90-ac1c-9be2-35b57d8973e7/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
A Water Conduit, A Scene in Sado (Mizuagehi [Sado shoken]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
Mizuagehi [Sado shoken]
1921
Color woodblock print; oban

Abolition of the Han Domains and Establishment of Prefectures
廃藩置県
c. 1927 (study for the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery commission)
Colour on paper; hanging scroll (study)

Actor Ichikawa Chūsha VII as Takechi Mitsuhide
1926
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with mica and embossing

Actor Matsumoto Kōshirō VII as Sukeroku
1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with mica

Actor Onoe Matsusuke IV as Gorōji in Kagatobi
1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with nikawa and embossing

Actors Ichikawa Shōchō II as Umegawa and Kataoka Gadō XII as Chūbei
1927
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

After Bath
1920 (posthumous edition)
Woodblock print

After Rain A, Shôwa period, circa 1970s
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print

After the Snow Falls
1921
Color woodblock print

Afternoon, from the series "Sailboat Boats"
1926
Color woodblock print

Akasaka Palace, from the series Recollections of Tokyo
1929
Color woodblock print

Akashi-cho after Rain (Akashi-cho no ugo), from the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijukkei)"
1928
Color woodblock print; oban

Akitomo Kurio Trying to Save His Horse and Servant from Drowning
厩戸黒尾図
before 1940
Ink and color on silk; hanging scroll

Amanohashidate in Snow (Yuki no Hashidate), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
1921
Color woodblock print; oban

Amaranthus tricolor
September 1929
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Ame- Rain — 雨
1929
Woodblock print

Among the Rocks
1929
Color woodblock print

Approaching Snow
December 1927
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

April: Sakyamuni, from the series Calendar in the Mood of the Tea Ceremony (Cha-in jûnikagetsu hangasaku), Shôwa period, dated 1956
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print

Arifuku Spa, Iwami, from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series" (Tabi miyage dai sanshu, Iwami Arifuku onsen)
1924
Color woodblock print

Asau, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print

At a Hot Spring Inn
1920
N/A

Autumn
1927
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Autumn at Arayu
新湯の秋
c. 1920
Color woodblock print

Autumn at Himeji Castle, Shôwa period, dated 1949
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print

Autumn at the Arayu Hot Spring, Shiobara
Autumn 1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Autumn Foliage at Hakkodasan
1929
Color woodblock print

Autumn in Ohara (right screen)
大原の秋
1921
One of a pair of folding screens; ink and color on paper

Autumn in the Hyakka-en
1926
Color woodblock print

Autumn Landscape
秋景図
1921
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Autumn Leaves
紅葉
1925
Color woodblock print

Autumn Leaves
紅葉
1929
Color woodblock print

Azalea in Pot
c. 1928–1930
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Baby and Toy Cow
circa 1921
Ink, pen, and drybrush on paper

Bamboo Grove
竹林図
About 1920
Pair of six-panel screens; ink and gold leaf on paper

Banana Tree and Sparrow (Bananier et moineau)
芭蕉に雀図
c. 1920
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Bando Mitsugoro VII as Soga no Goro
七代目坂東三津五郎の曽我五郎
1926
Color woodblock print

Bar Bacchus in Ginza, from the series Pictures of Ginza, First Series
January 1929
Color lithograph

Bar Sourire, no. 3 from the series Pictures of Ginza, Second Series
1929
Color lithograph

Bar-tailed Godwits and Reeds
1926
Color woodblock print; oban

Beach Shed at Himi in Etchū Province
September 6, 1921
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Beauty
early 20th century
Color woodblock print; tanzaku (pillar print)

Bee Next to Flowering Wisteria
1920s
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Before a Mirror
1927
Woodblock print

Before a Thunderstorm
March 1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Benito
1928
Etching on cream laid paper

Benten Kozō Kikunosuke
弁天小僧菊之助
1929
Sepia on paper

Bijin by Pond in Snow
circa 1920-1935
Color woodblock print

Bird in Plum Tree (Year of the Snake)
1929
Woodcut print
Nearby Decades
Frequently Asked Questions
Hanga catalogues 815 Japanese woodblock prints created during the 1920s (Taishō Era, 1912–1926).
The 1920s fall within the Taishō Era (大正時代), which ran from 1912 to 1926.
Hiroshi Yoshida, Kawase Hasui, and Ohara Koson are among the artists with the most 1920s prints in our collection.
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