Animals Prints (865)

Animal subjects in Japanese woodblock prints extend well beyond the birds-and-flowers genre to encompass a wide range of creatures — horses, cats, fish, insects, rabbits, foxes, and mythological beasts — each carrying distinct cultural associations and artistic challenges. Animals appear as primary subjects, as symbolic elements within larger compositions, and as characters in narrative prints drawn from folklore and literature. Cats and tigers were favored subjects of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, whose playful cat prints and dramatic tiger compositions influenced generations of artists. Horse prints documented both the practical role of horses in Japanese transportation and warfare and their symbolic associations with strength and nobility. Fish prints, particularly carp, carried auspicious connotations and demanded technical virtuosity in rendering scales and aquatic movement through woodblock carving. Mythological animals — dragons, kirin, phoenixes, and the fox spirits (kitsune) of Japanese folklore — provided opportunities for dramatic, imaginative compositions unconstrained by naturalistic observation. The sosaku-hanga movement brought new approaches to animal subjects, with artists like Tokuriki Tomikichiro and Saito Kiyoshi creating stylized animal prints that balanced decorative design with observed natural form.

Artists Known for Animals

Ishiwata Koitsu

石渡光逸

Ohara Koson

小原古邨

1877–1945

Jun'ichiro Sekino

関野準一郎

1914–1988

Tadashi Nakayama

中山正

1927–2014

Kimura Yoshiharu

木村吉晴

Kawanabe Kyosai

Sergeant First-Class Yokoi ...

March 1895

Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper

Butterfly・A

1965

Oil on panel

Dogwood 6

2009

Woodblock Print

Dragonfly Pond

2015

Color woodcut

Catching Whitebait at Nakaumi (出雲中海白魚採り)

1925

Woodblock Print

Mermaid and Big Fish

2025

2025 Unique, Drypoint and relief print on Japanese paper H43 x W36 cm (framed dimensions)

Mermaid and Merchild with Ring of Fish

2025

2025 Unique, drypoint and relief print on Japanese paper H43 x W36 cm (framed dimensions)

Cattleya (2)

Woodblock print

Fishes in drinking glass

Woodblock print

Fishing Village in the Afternoon 13/210

Woodblock print

Cats

Woodblock print

Fishing Village

1954

Color woodblock print; edition 23/30

Old Fisherman in a Net-House (Amigoya no rojin)

1966

Color woodblock print; edition 40/50

Dragonfly and chickens, 1880

Woodblock print

No Series Koibumi Love Letter

Woodblock print

Cattle Sheds at Takanawa (Takanawa ushigoya), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô

Woodblock print

Caricature No.1 (Bread and Match)

Woodblock print

Dragonfly and Lotus

1920s

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Japan 1947: Caricature Number One

1947

Color woodblock print

Kingfisher with Lotus Flower

Shōwa period, early to mid 20th century

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Poéme No. 8: Season of Butterfly

1948

Woodblock and object print

Indication 1

2018

Drypoint etching

Goldfish

2006

Cho no Hentai (Butterfly Transformation)

Woodblock print

A Fishing Boat

Woodblock print

Former Residence of Koizumi Yakumi (Lafcadio Hearn), Matsue

1948

Woodblock print, ink on paper

Kingfisher and Irises

1927

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

King and Dragonfly

Woodblock print

Related Subjects

Abstract Airport Architecture Autumn Foliage Bijin-ga Birds & Flowers Boats & Ships Bridges

Frequently Asked Questions

Ishiwata Koitsu, Ohara Koson, and Jun'ichiro Sekino are among the artists most associated with animals in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.

Hanga currently catalogues 865 prints tagged with animals, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.