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
Flower-Viewing Scene
ca. 1685
Monochrome woodblock print (sumie); ink on paper
The Actor Ichikawa Yaozo II as Goi no Sho Munesada with a Deer, in the Play Kuni no Hana Ono no Itsumoji (Flower of Japan: Ono no Komachi's Five Characters), Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1771
c. 1771
Color woodblock print; hosoban
The Actor Arashi Otohachi I as Numataro, the Retainer of Utou Yasukata, in Part Two of the Play Kogane no Hana Gaijin Aramusha (Gold Flowers: The Triumphal Return of Fierce Warriors), Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1766
c. 1766
Color woodblock print; hosoban
The Courtesan Mitsunoto of the Hishiya House, from the series "Sanjurokkasen (Thirty-six Flowers)"
c. 1772
Color woodblock print; chuban
The Actor Segawa Kikunojo II as the Heron Maiden in the play "Cotton Wadding of Izu Protecting the Matrimonial Chrysanthemums (Myoto-giku Izu no Kisewata)," performed at the Ichimura Theater from the first day of the eleventh month, 1770
1770
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Segawa Kikunojo II as the Heron Maiden (from the series Ichimura Theater)
1770
color woodblock print
Courtesan Reading a Poem Slip Tied to Flowers in a Vase
mid-1740s
color woodblock print
Two Cranes and a Plum Tree
ca.1741 to ca.1764
Gibbon snatching sake pot from flower-viewing party
c. 1772
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Young Woman Holding Parasol Admires Hirugao (noon-face) Flowers
c. 1772
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Cranes in an Iris Pond at Sunrise
c. 1774
Color woodblock print; chuban
Cranes and Bamboo
c. 1774
Color woodblock print; chuban
Crane, Bamboo and Iris
c. 1775
Color woodblock print; chuban
Moon, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers of the Floating World (Ukiyo setsugekka)"
c. 1784/85
Color woodblock print; oban
Narcissus in Winter, from the series "Choicest Odes upon Flowers of the Four Seasons (Shuku awase, shiki no hana)"
c. 1792
Color woodblock print; chuban
Gathering Young Flowers
Middle sheet of a triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Spring Rain Collection (Harusame shū), vol. 2: Cut Flowers: Clematis, Bush Clover, Iris, Camellia, and Azalea
1815 (Year of the Ox)
Privately published woodblock prints (surimono) mounted in an album; ink and color on paper
Two White Cockatoos on Red Bar
Unknown, sand pipers
Album of Japanese Bird and Flower Paintings by Watanabe Shotei (Shotei kacho gafu)
Bird and wild carnation
c. 1830s
Color woodblock print; yotsugiriban
Detailed Sketches for Drawings of Birds and Flowers and Landscapes (Kachō sansui saiga zushiki)
花鳥山水細画図式
1865 (Keiō 1)
Woodblock-printed book; ink on paper
Cranes (Tsuru zu)
鶴図
c. 1908
Six-panel folding screen; ink and color on paper
Banana Tree and Sparrow (Bananier et moineau)
芭蕉に雀図
c. 1920
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Japanese Bush Warbler and Flowering Plum (Ume ni uguisu)
梅に鶯
Before 1941
Color woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Tea Bowl (Chawan)
茶碗
late Meiji–early Taishō period
Glazed stoneware
Bust Portrait of the Actor Ichikawa Yaozo III as Tanabe Bunzo in the play Hana-ayame Bunroku Soga (Blooming Iris: Soga Vendetta of the Bunroku Era), Performed at the Miyako Theater from the Fifth Day of the Fifth Month, 1794
c. 1794
Color woodblock print; aiban; mica background
Birds and Flowers
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
A Lady-in-Waiting with Waist as Slender as a Willow from the series Flowers and Modern Beauties
1807
color woodblock print
The Courtesan Hisui of the Fan House (Ogiya uchi Hisui), from the series The Five Festivals Flower Competition (Gosechi hana awase)
About 1789–1801
Color woodblock print, ôban (one sheet of a pentaptych)
Cockatoo and Pamegranate
Flycatcher and Wisteria
Mallard Ducks in Coastal Scene
Omu, Parrot
Branch of Plum Blossoms and Bowl
19th century
Part of an album of woodblock prints (surimono); ink and color on paper
Camellia Flowers (left); People Watching a Cockfight (right)
ca. 1820
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Two Geisha Struggling for a Letter (Fumi no arasoi), from the series "Flowers of Nakasu (Nakasu no hana)"
c. 1781
Color woodblock print; chuban
Parody of the story of Yoritomo releasing cranes at Yuigahama
ca. 1815
Grasshopper on Flowering Plant
草花に蟋蟀図
early 20th century
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
A Cock Crows (Tōten kō)
東天紅
1909
Woodblock print (kuchi-e); ink and color on paper
Flowering Plum and Birds
梅花小禽図
1873
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Black-eared Kite, from Pictorial Monograph of Birds (Shūchō gafu)
聚鳥畫譜 — 鳶
1885
Color woodblock print from a book; ink and color on paper
Illustration of English People (Igirisujin no zu)
英吉利人の図
1st month, 1861
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Sparrow
雀
Color woodblock print (shikishi-e)
Picking Flowers at Kumano Junisha Shrine in Tsunohazu
late 1780s
Color woodblock print; right sheet of oban triptych
Marigold (Kinsenka) and Rashomon Flowers, from the series "Collection of Plants for the Kasumi Poetry Circle (Kasumi-ren somoku awase)"
1810s
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Diving Duck
Two rabbits
Fish, Flower & Kanon
White Crane Flying across the Sun's Disc
1835?
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Cranes
鶴図
1920s
Pair of folding screens; ink and color on paper
Bird on a Branch
Edo period (1615-1868)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Flower Seller
花売り
before 1935
Painting reproduction; ink and color on silk or paper
![A Flower of the Ōgiya (Ōgiya uchi Hana) [= the courtesan Hanaōgi], from the series Array of Supreme Beauties of the Present Day (Tōji zensei bijin zoroe) by Kitagawa Utamaro](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/0754f7b3-e6bf-e819-8466-68c1e4eef82f/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
A Flower of the Ōgiya (Ōgiya uchi Hana) [= the courtesan Hanaōgi], from the series Array of Supreme Beauties of the Present Day (Tōji zensei bijin zoroe)
c. 1794 (Kansei 6)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Hill Myna on a Magnolia Branch
c. 1928–1930
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Eagle on snowy tree bough
Monkey and Dragonfly
Lacquer Bowl for New Year Food
19th century
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
The Heron Maiden
c. 1766/67
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Morning Glories, Pinks, and Maiden Flower, from the series "Seven Autumn Flowers in Moonlight"
1830/44
Color woodblock print; uchiwa-e
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.