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
animals 14
2025
Lithograph
Golden Lion
Aquatint
The Black Swan
Woodblock print
Egret
Woodblock print
Circus Horses
Woodblock print
Honorable Mr. Cat
1903
Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper
The Puppy-Cat and the Baby
1904
Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper
Mole and Squirrel
Wood engraving & handset letterpress text
Oxígeno
2022
Etching on Hahnemühle 350 gr paper
Untitled (Cow) and Untitled (Donkey)
Two etchings on wove
The Monkey Bridge in Winter
1939
Japanese Color Woodblock Print
Deer on a Mountain Ledge at Dusk
1910
Woodcut on paper
Cat Feathers Red
2018
Woodblock print
The Goat Trail, Black's Beach: Golden Sunlight
2021
Japanese Woodblock Print
The Goat Trail, Black's Beach: Moonrise
2021
Japanese Woodblock Print
White Fox; Twins - B
1982
Woodcut
Rabbit #2
Wooden panel, plush, plastic toys, glue and acrylic
Deer in Nara
1930
Woodblock Print
Cat and Butterfly
2014
Chinese brush painting
Mountain Stream (Rabbit)
2017
Newspaper, Ink Stick, Acrylic Paint
Rising Tiger
2017
Ink on Paper
Goldfish farm
n.d.
Color woodblock print; nagaban, surimono
Hodogaya, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)
Woodblock print
Koishikawa yuki no tan / Fugaku Sanju Rokkei
Woodblock print
Traveler on Horseback under Bloomed Cherry Tree
1790s
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Two Women and a Child Beside a Goldfish Tank
c. 1800
color woodblock print
Horses
1817
Woodcut on thin japanese paper
Fishing by Torch in Kai Province (Koshu hiburi) from the series
Woodblock print
Frogs in a Cage Before a Painted Screen, illustration for The Dry-Shallows Shell (Minasegai), from the series
Woodblock print
Tokaido Hodogaya, from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"
Color woodblock print
Yodo River (Yodogawa), from the series "Famous Places in Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)"
c. 1834
Color woodblock print; oban
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji), from the series "Famous Places in Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)"
c. 1834
Color woodblock print; oban
Cranes, Rabbits, Morning Glory, Bamboo and Blossom
1820
Abalone (Awabi), Halfbeak (Sayori) and Peach (Momo), from the series A Shoal of Fishes (Uozukushi)
19th century
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Oystercatchers
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; koban
Red Seabream (Madai) and Japanese Pepper Leaves (Sanshō), from the series A Shoal of Fishes (Uozukushi)
19th century
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Hodogaya
1855
Woodblock Print
Bonito and saxifrage, from an untitled series of fish
c. 1832/33
Color woodblock print; oban, trimmed
Ryogoku Ekoin and Moto-Yanagi Bridge (Ryogoku Ekoin Moto-Yanagibashi), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
Color woodblock print
Woman and Child with Dogs
Woodblock print
![Hour of the Tiger [4 am], Courtesan (Tora no koku, keisei), from the series by Kitagawa Utamaro](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/aic/thumbs/79609_350678.jpg)
Hour of the Tiger [4 am], Courtesan (Tora no koku, keisei), from the series
Woodblock print
The Hour of the Monkey
Woodblock print
Fisherman
漁夫
c. 1940
Color woodblock print
Playing Fish — 遊魚
Woodblock print
Two Carp, Koi
Woodblock print
Carpenter
大工
c. 1940
Color woodblock print
Catching Fireflies in the Evining Cool
Woodblock print
Hayakawa Ayunosuke Damming the Ayukawa River in Order to Strand Fish in the Open Fields
Woodblock print
Fire - The fishing fire
Woodblock print
Moritsuna Holding a Knife in his Mouth and Strangling the Fisherman Todayu
Woodblock print
Kintaro Captures the Carp (Kintaro rigyo o torau)
July 1885
Color woodblock prints; oban diptych
Lobster and Abalone
late 1880s
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Minamoto Yorimitsu (Raikō) and His Retainers Attacking the Earth Spider (Tsuchigumo)
early 1860s
Preparatory drawing for a print, ink and color on paper
Study of a leaping carp
19th century
Preparatory drawing for a print, ink on paper
The Last of Kagoshima Rebellion
1877
Woodblock print
Top: Cheerful Foxes at the Mimeguri Shrine on the Banks of the Sumida River; Bottom: A famous jockey at Shōkonsha
January 1881
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Oniwakamaru Observing the Great Carp in the Pond, from the series "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts"
1889
Color woodblock print
Hydrangeas and Butterfly
Woodblock print
Catching Goldfish (Kingyo sukui), from the series Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (Tokyo jûnidai), Shôwa period, dated 1928
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print
Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji), Shôwa period, dated 1933
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print
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.