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
Fishmonger
Woodblock print
Koishikawa Plum Garden
Woodblock print
Unknown- Fox
Woodblock print
Dragon rising to the heavens.
Woodblock print
Fishing Village
漁村
c. 1938
Color woodblock print
Child Cate (W)
Woodblock print
La Peche Miraculeuse. Izu, Japon (The Miraculous Catch. Izu, Japan)
1939
Woodblock print
1967 Autumn Catalog
Woodblock print
Tsuchiya-koitsu
1936
Woodblock print
Catfish — なまず （Namazu）
Woodblock print
Gonzui- Striped Catfish — ゴンズイ
Woodblock print
Sayori- Japanese Needlefish — サヨリ
Woodblock print
Two Peonies and Butterfly
Woodblock print
A Pavilion
Woodblock print
Scorpion Fish- Okoze — オコゼ
Woodblock print
Unknown fish 1
Woodblock print
Leaping Carp — 跳鯉
Woodblock print
Angle Fish
Woodblock print
Flying Fish
Woodblock print
Fishing Village, Shôwa period, dated 1959
Woodblock print
Horse
Woodblock print
Old Fisherman in a Net House
Woodblock print
1967 Spring Catalog
Woodblock print
1966 Autumn Catalog
Woodblock print
Nakamura Utaemon V as Yodogimi
Woodblock print
Fish
Woodblock print
Fish A
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Catalogue of Woodcut Color Prints 1955
Woodblock print
Cormorant Fishing on Nagaragawa — 鵜飼（長良川）
Woodblock print
Cormorant Fishing on Nagaragawa — 鵜飼（長良川）
Woodblock print
Deer at the Kasuga Shrine in Nara
Woodblock print
Deer Strolling along Kasuga Shrine, Nara
Woodblock print
Deer Strolling along Kasuga Shrine, Nara
Woodblock print
Deer Strolling along Kasuga Shrine, Nara
Woodblock print
Author Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall/ Cromwell Trilogy. photographed at her home and on the beach in Buckleigh Salterton, Devon, United Kingdom
Fishing
Woodblock print
Crayfish
c.1920
Grasshopper and Butterfly
ca. 1920s
Fishes in drinking glass
Woodblock print
Fishes (Sakana)
1958
Color woodblock print; edition 17/50
Beauty viewing Golden Pavillion
Woodblock print
snack time lion animal cookie spitzack woodblock woodcut mokuhanga print printmaking washi seattle art
Hemerocallis Tiger Blood (Silver)
Copper sulphate etching with silver leaf
Tiger Blood Lily (Black)
Copper sulphate etching
Tiger Blood Lily (Blue)
Copper sulphate etching
Monkey
サル
Etching / mixed media
The Tiger Killer
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Oh,-it's a-rabbit
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Altamira - Horse
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Lion and butterfly
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Lion dance
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Lion dance
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Lion dance
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Horse mountain (Hokkaido)
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
White Fox girls
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
White Fox fairies 4
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
White fox 2
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.