Birds & Flowers Prints (1639)
Birds and flowers (kacho-ga) form one of the three classical subject categories of East Asian painting, alongside landscapes and figures. In Japanese woodblock printmaking, the tradition produced some of the medium's most technically accomplished works, demanding exceptional carving precision for feather details and botanical accuracy. Hokusai's "Small Flowers" series and Hiroshige's bird-and-flower prints of the 1830s established kacho-ga as a major ukiyo-e genre. These works combined natural observation with poetic sensibility, often incorporating verses that amplified the seasonal or emotional associations of their subjects. The surimono tradition — privately commissioned luxury prints — particularly favored bird-and-flower subjects, producing exquisite small-format works with metallic pigments and blind embossing. Shin-hanga artists continued the tradition with renewed naturalistic ambition. Ohara Koson (also known as Shoson) became the genre's most prolific modern practitioner, creating hundreds of bird-and-flower designs that combined scientific observation with decorative elegance. His prints of egrets, crows, and songbirds in atmospheric settings became internationally popular. The genre demands particular technical skill in color gradation and fine-line carving, making kacho-ga prints a showcase for the collaborative craft of designer, carver, and printer.
Artists Known for Birds & Flowers
FOUR DUCKS AT THE WATER'S EDGE
Woodblock print
Mitate No.29 - Wild Geese (Raku-gan)
2000
CHORUI (birds) SA
Woodblock print
Three Birds
Woodblock print
Berries
Woodblock print
Mixed flowers
Woodblock print
Blue and Red Macaws
Woodblock print
Large Chrysanthemums - 大菊
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
Flowers
Woodblock print
HANA (flowers) 77-B
Woodblock print
Two Birds on Reeds
c. 1928–1930
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Pomegranates and Grapes
1879–81
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Volume 4 - 第四編
Woodblock print
Korin
Shōwa period,
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Skunk cabbage — みずばしょう, 水芭蕉
Woodblock print
Sunflowers and Skyscrapers (Flowers and New York)
1960
Woodblock print
No. 7- Flowers (1)
Woodblock print
Unknown, Flowers 1
Woodblock print
Nasturtium
1953
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Two Ducks in a Lilypond, Taishô period, dated 1920 (9th Year of the Taishô Era)
Taishô period, 1912-1926
Woodblock print
HOSHI-NO-TSUBOMI (Star bud)
Woodblock print
Morning Glories
Woodblock print
Flowers of Japanese Silver Leaves
c. 1928–1930
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Cattleya (2)
Woodblock print
A Basket with Various Flowers
1932
Color woodblock print
Untitled (aoyama-masaharu)
Woodblock print
Ginger
1953
Color woodblock print
Roses
1927
Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper
Onaga-dori
Woodblock print
Pansy
Woodblock print
Kasumi Teshigawara arranging chrysanthemums — 菊を活ける勅使ヶ原霞女史
Woodblock print
Image No. 2. Weisse Blume
Woodblock print
Seagulls
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Blizz
2018
Lithograph
Guys and Fries
2018
Lithograph
M
2018
Lithograph
Winstead's
2018
Lithograph
Jazz
2017
Lithograph
Promise
2016
Mokuhanga (woodblock print)
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Lilies
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Secret Flower
2006
Mokuhanga
Flyway
2015
Woodcut on mura washi
Bird Twins
2024
Mokuhanga
The Flight of Birds: Circling
2024
Mokuhanga
Your Flight Has Been Cancelled
2022
Mokuhanga
Watonai, Suimen no beninohana (Watonai, Safflower) / Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen 當盛見立 三十六花撰 (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers (Immortals of Poetry))
Saito, Hodo
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Blooming Sky 1
2017
Mokuhanga
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Birds and flowers (kacho-ga) form one of the three classical subject categories of East Asian painting, alongside landscapes and figures. In Japanese woodblock printmaking, the tradition produced some of the medium's most technically accomplished works, demanding exceptional carving precision for feather details and botanical accuracy.
Sugiura Kazutoshi, Ohara Koson, and Kimura Yoshiharu are among the artists most associated with birds & flowers in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 1639 prints tagged with birds & flowers, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.