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
Fighting Bulls in Iyo
Woodblock print
Birds and sun
Woodblock print
Friend W
Woodblock print
Homing Geese
Woodblock print
EBISU ON HORSEBACK
Woodblock print
Two Ducks Swimming Among Reeds
c. 1834/39
Color woodblock print; chu-tanzaku
Looking Out
Woodblock print
Circus- LE
Woodblock print
Brothers (5) B
Woodblock print
White Egret
Woodblock print
Four Crows
Woodblock print
Rats and Radishes
1926
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Hawks
Woodblock print
Ducks
1920
Woodblock print
Two Ducks
1920 (Taishō 9), 8th month
Modern Japanese woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Rats and Root Vegetables
Woodblock print
Single block print, two tigers
Woodblock print
Koma-inu
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (tomoo-inagaki)
Woodblock print
Huam Carp07905
Woodblock print
Birds' Wake
1985
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Bar-tailed Godwits and Reeds
1926
Color woodblock print; oban
Geese Christmas Card
description
Woodblock print
Peacocks
description
Woodblock print
Swan and Reeds
1928
Color woodblock print
Cockatoos
1930s
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
two kittens
Woodblock print
Woodpecker B- oban
Woodblock print
Unknown, Love birds
Woodblock print
Kittens
Woodblock print
Untitled (kishio-koizumi)
Woodblock print
![Woodpecker (B) [Kitsutsuki (B)] by Kaoru Kawano](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/bc4e25d8-39cc-0723-0ac3-5c17e5e5f5e9/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Woodpecker (B) [Kitsutsuki (B)]
1962
Color woodblock print
Mallard Ducks Swimming
泳ぐ鴨
c. 1915
Color woodblock print
Pigeons
c. 1900–1945
Woodblock print
Friends (W)
Woodblock print
Woodpecker
1930
Woodcut print
Turkish Brass Donkey (Toruku shinchu no roba)
1976
Woodblock print
Nara Park (small aizuri-e)
Woodblock print
Geese in Flight
c. 1928–1930
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Two Cranes
二羽の鶴
c. 1925
Color woodblock print
Two Doves
circa 1890-1910
Woodblock print
TotalCount
c. 1878–1918
Woodblock print
Pose (13) B
Woodblock print
Away from the Herd
1965
Woodblock print
Roosters Fighting
Woodblock print
Memory for a Lamb
Woodblock print
Untitled (watanabe-seitei)
1896
Woodblock print
FOUR DUCKS AT THE WATER'S EDGE
Woodblock print
White Geese and Reeds
1928
Color woodblock print; oban
Roosters
20th century
Color woodblock print; edition 14/100
Mallard Ducks in Coastal Scene
Woodblock print
Horsemanship: Magaki Heikuro
Woodblock print
Complete set of the series: The Twelve Zodiac Signs with Heroes
c. 1868
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Land of the Bluebird No 96
1913
Woodblock print
Kyosai rakuga
1881
Woodblock printed books, two volumes
Buffoonery
Woodblock print
Horses in the Afternoon (Gogo no uma), Shôwa period, dated 1961
Woodblock print
Whirlwind
Woodblock print
![Untitled [two roosters] by Amano Kazumi](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135977.jpg)
Untitled [two roosters]
1960
Woodblock print, ink on paper
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.