Bijin-ga Prints (1154)
Bijin-ga — literally "pictures of beautiful people" — is one of the foundational genres of Japanese woodblock printmaking. The tradition dates to the earliest days of ukiyo-e, when artists like Hishikawa Moronobu and later Kitagawa Utamaro elevated portrayals of women from simple illustrations to sophisticated studies of beauty, fashion, and personality. Utamaro's bust portraits of the 1790s, which isolated individual faces against plain backgrounds, were revolutionary in their psychological depth and compositional daring. His contemporaries Chobunsai Eishi and Torii Kiyonaga developed complementary approaches, emphasizing graceful full-length figures in elaborate settings. The genre documented the changing ideals of feminine beauty across centuries, from the rounded features favored in the Edo period to the elongated elegance of the Meiji era. The shin-hanga revival of the early twentieth century produced a final flowering of bijin-ga, with artists like Ito Shinsui, Torii Kotondo, and Hashiguchi Goyo creating some of the genre's most refined works. These artists brought Western-influenced light and shadow to traditional subjects, producing prints that are among the most sought-after in the Japanese print market today. Bijin-ga prints are prized for their technical virtuosity, particularly the rendering of fabric patterns, hair arrangements, and subtle skin tones achieved through multiple woodblock impressions.
Artists Known for Bijin-ga
Bijin in a Plum Garden — 梅美人
Not set
Woodblock print
![Flowers of a Hundred Years: A Modern Girl [of 1920] (Hyakunen no Hana: Senkyuhakunijuunen no Moga) by Paul Binnie](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/scholten/images/690574bb534eeb48008c57562d14b274.jpg)
Flowers of a Hundred Years: A Modern Girl [of 1920] (Hyakunen no Hana: Senkyuhakunijuunen no Moga)
Woodblock print
Beauty and IKEBANA (flower arranging)
Woodblock print
Beauty viewing Golden Pavillion
Woodblock print
Geisha Girl in Winter
Woodblock print
Maiko and Japanese drum
Woodblock print
Maiko and shuttlecock
Woodblock print
MAIKO doing flower arranging
Woodblock print
Maiko Girl, dancing
Woodblock print
Bijin sitting
Woodblock print
Woman in Gray Kimono
Woodblock print
No Series Bijin In Kimono
Woodblock print
Bijin and Fan
Woodblock print
Bijin in Yukata
Woodblock print
Bijin with Fan
Woodblock print
No Series Bijin In Snow
Woodblock print
4- Bijin among flowers
Woodblock print
Bijin after a bath
Woodblock print
Bijin in Green Kimono (1)
Woodblock print
Bijin on pleasure boat in rain storm
Woodblock print
Bijin Relaxing (1)
Woodblock print
New Ukiyo E Beauties August Moon
Woodblock print
Maiko Admiring the Moon
Woodblock print
Beauty
Woodblock print
Bijin by Pond in Snow
Woodblock print
A Sitting Beauty with Kimono, Maiko
Not set
Woodblock print
No Series Bijin Playing Battledore
Woodblock print
New Ukiyo E Beauties September Tipsy
Woodblock print
A Japanese Beauty
1920
Nude Woman Holding a Black Cat
1915
Woodblock print
Woman in the Rain
1915
Woodblock print
MAIKO (apprentise)
Woodblock print
Woman with Umbrella
Woodblock print
Woman Holding a Baby
Woodblock print
Woman Holding a Lip Brush
1920 (Taishō 9), 9th month
Modern Japanese woodblock print; ink, color, mica and gold on paper
Beauty at the Garden Well
Woodblock print
Bijin and Fuji
Woodblock print
Bijin and Maple Leaves (1)
Woodblock print
Bijin and Plum Tree — 梅樹美人之図
Woodblock print
Bijin at water — 仙錦亭
Woodblock print
Bijin behind screen net
Woodblock print
Bijin in reeds
Woodblock print
Bijin on sea shore
Woodblock print
Bijin thinking
Woodblock print
Bijin with red coat
Woodblock print
Surprised Bijin
Woodblock print
Western Woman in Hammock, Reading a Letter
Woodblock print
Woman in Kimono Asleep and Dreaming of her Lover, a Soldier in Battle
Woodblock print
Unknown, bijin
Woodblock print
Maiko
Woodblock print
A Woman in Western Dress
1960
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Bijin Contemplating (1)
Woodblock print
Clock and a Beauty (I)
1964
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Cool Evening (Suzumi), from the series Twelve Figures of New Beauties (Shin bijin jûni sugata), Taishô period, dated 1922
Woodblock print
Cotton Kimono, from the series "New Twelve Images of Modern Beauties"
1922
Color woodblock print
Early Spring — 昭和美人風俗 浅春
Woodblock print
Early Summer Bath, from the series “Twelve Images of Modern Beauties”
1917
Color woodblock print
Enjoying the Cool, from the series New Twelve Images of Modern Beauties
1917
Color woodblock print
Face Powder, from the series "New Twelve Images of Modern Beauties"
1919
Color woodblock print
Maiko (1)
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Bijin-ga — literally "pictures of beautiful people" — is one of the foundational genres of Japanese woodblock printmaking. The tradition dates to the earliest days of ukiyo-e, when artists like Hishikawa Moronobu and later Kitagawa Utamaro elevated portrayals of women from simple illustrations to sophisticated studies of beauty, fashion, and personality.
Torii Kotondo, Hashiguchi Goyo, and Ito Shinsui are among the artists most associated with bijin-ga in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 1154 prints tagged with bijin-ga, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.