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
1000 Wingbeats for One Drop of Nectar
2011
Mokuhanga
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Yaezaka Monsa, Kawara-nadeshiko (Yaezaka Monsa, Wild pink) / Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen 當盛見立 三十六花撰 (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers (Immortals of Poetry))
Daffodil
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
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Dahlias
Woodblock print
Primrose
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Peonies
1924
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
No. 69 - Owl
梟
Silkscreen (serigraph)
No. 123 - Owl
梟
Silkscreen (serigraph)
No. 132 - Owl
梟
Silkscreen (serigraph)
No. 188 - Owl
梟
Silkscreen (serigraph)
Flower Like the Blue Sky
青い空のような花
Silkscreen
The Island that Turned into a Bird
鳥になった島
Silkscreen
Cosmos
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Egret
1963
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Untitled (hodo-nishimura)
Woodblock print
Harvard Art Museum
Woodblock print
Birds F
Woodblock print
Leaf B
Woodblock print
Flying Away
Woodblock print
Flying
Woodblock print
FUTATSU NO CHO (two betterflies)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Three Birds
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Bellflower #4
n.d.
Color woodblock print
Two Birds Walking In The Sun
Woodblock print
Untitled (sugiura-kazutoshi)
Woodblock print
Bird on a Branch
枝に小鳥図
Early–mid-19th century
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kimura-yoshiharu)
Woodblock print
Yellow Flowers
Woodblock print
Parody of Minamoto no Yoritomo releasing cranes at Yuigahama
c. 1805
Color woodblock print; oban triptych
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.