Hanga

Children Prints (480)

Children (kodomo) in Japanese woodblock prints, depicted at play, in festivals, or in genre scenes of daily life. Child subjects appear across all periods, from Edo-era prints to modern sosaku-hanga compositions celebrating childhood innocence.

Artists Known for Children

Ariwara no Narihira, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)" by Kikukawa Eizan

Ariwara no Narihira, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)"

c. 1814/17

Color woodblock print; oban

Bunya no Yasuhide, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)" by Kikukawa Eizan

Bunya no Yasuhide, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)"

c. 1814/17

Color woodblock print; oban

Kisen Hoshi, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)" by Kikukawa Eizan

Kisen Hoshi, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)"

c. 1814/17

Color woodblock print; oban

Ono no Komachi, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)" by Kikukawa Eizan

Ono no Komachi, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)"

c. 1814/17

Color woodblock print; oban

Otomo no Kuronushi, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)" by Kikukawa Eizan

Otomo no Kuronushi, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)"

c. 1814/17

Color woodblock print; oban

Sojo Henjo, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)" by Kikukawa Eizan

Sojo Henjo, from the series "Fashionable Children as the Six Immortal Poets (Furyu kodakara rokkasen)"

c. 1814/17

Color woodblock print; oban

Man and Girl by Kikukawa Eizan

Man and Girl

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Girl Playing a Prank on a Young Man who is Napping by Isoda Koryūsai

Girl Playing a Prank on a Young Man who is Napping

c. 1769

Color woodblock print; chuban

Three Girls at Temple Gate by Kubo Shunman

Three Girls at Temple Gate

possibly 1799

Color woodblock print; surimono

Two Women with Boy in Front of Powder Shop by Suzuki Harushige (Shiba Kōkan)

Two Women with Boy in Front of Powder Shop

c. 1770/71

Color woodblock print; chuban

Young Girl Throwing Fish into Pond by Suzuki Harushige (Shiba Kōkan)

Young Girl Throwing Fish into Pond

c. 1771/72

Color woodblock print; chuban

Women Watching Children Flying Kites by Totoya Hokkei

Women Watching Children Flying Kites

early 19th century

Color woodblock print; surimono

Children Playing Tug of War by Totoya Hokkei

Children Playing Tug of War

early 19th century

Color woodblock print; surimono

Children Playing by Totoya Hokkei

Children Playing

early 19th century

Color woodblock print; surimono

Girls of Fukagawa - A Triptych (Fukagawa musume sanpukutsui) by Torii Kiyohiro

Girls of Fukagawa - A Triptych (Fukagawa musume sanpukutsui)

c. 1755

Color woodblock print; uncut hosoban triptych, benizuri-e

Children by Aoki Mokubei

Children

late 1700s–early 1800s

Leaf from a pair of folding albums; ink and light color on paper

A Man and a Girl Walking in the Rice Fields by Chōbunsai Eishi

A Man and a Girl Walking in the Rice Fields

ca. 1780

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

A Girl with a Fan by Chōbunsai Eishi

A Girl with a Fan

ca. 1780

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Untitled (Girl Holding Pink Flowers) by Helen Hyde

Untitled (Girl Holding Pink Flowers)

n.d.

Etching, with watercolor and pastel, on ivory wove paper

Young Man Admiring a Girl through a Barred Window by Isoda Koryūsai

Young Man Admiring a Girl through a Barred Window

c. 1770

Color woodblock print; hashira-e

Young Man Carrying a Girl Sees her Reflection in the Water by Isoda Koryūsai

Young Man Carrying a Girl Sees her Reflection in the Water

c. 1771

Color woodblock print; hashira-e

Tiger, from the series "Fashionable Children with the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac (Furyu kodomo juni shi)" by Isoda Koryūsai

Tiger, from the series "Fashionable Children with the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac (Furyu kodomo juni shi)"

c. 1773

Color woodblock print; chuban

Boy as Hotei, from an untitled series of children as the Seven Gods of Good Fortune by Kitao Shigemasa

Boy as Hotei, from an untitled series of children as the Seven Gods of Good Fortune

1780s

Color woodblock print; oban

A Girl and Four Servants, from the series "A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fuzoku Azuma no nishiki)" by Torii Kiyonaga

A Girl and Four Servants, from the series "A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fuzoku Azuma no nishiki)"

c. 1783/84

Color woodblock print; oban

Young Boy Wearing Hakama for the First Time, from from the series "A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fuzoku Azuma no nishiki)" by Torii Kiyonaga

Young Boy Wearing Hakama for the First Time, from from the series "A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fuzoku Azuma no nishiki)"

c. 1783/84

Color woodblock print; oban

March; Girl's Festival by Yoshitoshi Mori

March; Girl's Festival

Court Ladies on a Balcony Watching a Woman and a Girl Chasing a Man in the Yard under Blossoming Cherry Trees by Katsukawa Shun'ei

Court Ladies on a Balcony Watching a Woman and a Girl Chasing a Man in the Yard under Blossoming Cherry Trees

late 1790s

Color woodblock print; long surimono

A Boy Singer by Kitao Shigemasa

A Boy Singer

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Girl Riding a Crane (parody of Hi Chobo [Chinese: Fei Zhangfang]) by Suzuki Harunobu

Girl Riding a Crane (parody of Hi Chobo [Chinese: Fei Zhangfang])

c. 1766/67

Color woodblock print; chuban

Girl in Wind by Tadashi Nakayama

Girl in Wind

M

Maiko Girl

c. 1924

Color woodblock print

The Actor Iwai Hanshiro IV as a Boy Blowing on His Hands beside a Large Snowball, in the Play Nigiwai Genji Hana Saku Kado, Performed at the Kawarazaki Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1793 by Katsukawa Shun'ei

The Actor Iwai Hanshiro IV as a Boy Blowing on His Hands beside a Large Snowball, in the Play Nigiwai Genji Hana Saku Kado, Performed at the Kawarazaki Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1793

c. 1793

Color woodblock print; hosoban; left sheet of diptych

Two Women and a Girl by Kikukawa Eizan

Two Women and a Girl

1800–1829

color woodblock print

Tanabata, from the series Fashionable Children of the Five Festivals (Fūryū kodomo gosekku) by Kikukawa Eizan

Tanabata, from the series Fashionable Children of the Five Festivals (Fūryū kodomo gosekku)

c. 1809–29

Color woodblock print

T

The actor Ichikawa Dajuro VII and a woman watching boy write first calligraphy of the New Year

1831

Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

Two Girls Under Plum Tree by Nishikawa Sukenobu

Two Girls Under Plum Tree

Monochrome woodblock print; ink on paper

Actor Arashi Rikan as Miyamoto Musashi, Journeying through the Snow with his Boy Attendant by Utagawa Kunihiro

Actor Arashi Rikan as Miyamoto Musashi, Journeying through the Snow with his Boy Attendant

c. 1815-1830

Color woodblock print (yakusha-e)

Women and Children Viewing the Cherry Blossoms at Gotenyama by Katsukawa Shunchō

Women and Children Viewing the Cherry Blossoms at Gotenyama

ca. 1787

Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

Wang Pu (Oho), from the series "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety as a Mirror for Children (Nijushiko doji kagami)" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Wang Pu (Oho), from the series "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety as a Mirror for Children (Nijushiko doji kagami)"

c. 1843

Color woodblock print; oban

A Collection of 'Children's Sports' by Kobayashi Eitaku

A Collection of 'Children's Sports'

1888

Print

Children at Play on a Snowy Morning by the Great Bridge in the Eastern Capital (Tôto Shin Ôhashi yuki no asa kodomo asobi no zu) by Utagawa Sadatora

Children at Play on a Snowy Morning by the Great Bridge in the Eastern Capital (Tôto Shin Ôhashi yuki no asa kodomo asobi no zu)

東都新大橋雪の朝子供遊の図

c. 1830s (Edo period)

Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

The Sleeping Tea-Boy (parody of Hokaso) by Suzuki Harunobu

The Sleeping Tea-Boy (parody of Hokaso)

c. 1767

Color woodblock print; chuban

A Lady Visiting a Shrine Followed by a Boy with Kite by Totoya Hokkei

A Lady Visiting a Shrine Followed by a Boy with Kite

early 19th century (possibly 1822 or 1834)

Color woodblock print; surimono

Young girl dancing at nobleman's mansion by Katsushika Hokusai

Young girl dancing at nobleman's mansion

1805

Color woodblock print; nagaban, surimono

Young Man Playing Flute as Three Girls Watch by Torii Kiyonaga

Young Man Playing Flute as Three Girls Watch

c. 1782

Color woodblock print; hashira-e

G

Great Hit! Said the Children, after Seeing Popular Picture Books, and They Imitate the Subjects for TheirPlay, Calligraphy, and Painting (Yodo iu koitsu wa Nippon, Ezoshi wo mite yori sono gwai wo asobu)

Heron Girl (Sagi musume) by Taniguchi Kōkyō

Heron Girl (Sagi musume)

鷺娘

Taishō era, 20th century

Color woodblock print

Young Boy Beseeching Hotei by Kitao Shigemasa

Young Boy Beseeching Hotei

late 18th century

Color woodblock print; hashira-e

Young Girl by Kikuchi Keigetsu

Young Girl

少女

1920

Ink and color on paper or silk

A Maegamai and a Girl- repro by Keisai Eisen

A Maegamai and a Girl- repro

A Young Girl Offering Tea to Another Woman by Kitagawa Utamaro

A Young Girl Offering Tea to Another Woman

c. 1797

Color woodblock print; oban

Dong Yong (Toei), from the series "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety as a Mirror for Children (Nijushiko doji kagami)" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Dong Yong (Toei), from the series "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety as a Mirror for Children (Nijushiko doji kagami)"

c. 1843

Color woodblock print; oban

Japanese Girl by Alexandre Iacovleff

Japanese Girl

1919

Sepia on paper

Two Girls Enjoying the Evening Cool in a Garden by Suzuki Harunobu

Two Girls Enjoying the Evening Cool in a Garden

c. 1765/70

Color woodblock print; chuban

Segawa Kikunojō III as the Shop Boy Chōkichi by Utagawa Toyokuni I

Segawa Kikunojō III as the Shop Boy Chōkichi

1796

Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper

Fighting with Dolls, Children's Play by Yamamoto Shoun

Fighting with Dolls, Children's Play

Japanese Girl (The Musmee) by Robert Blum

Japanese Girl (The Musmee)

1891

Wood engraving after a painting by Robert Blum, by Henry Wolf

A Woman and a Boy at Shrine by Katsushika Hokusai

A Woman and a Boy at Shrine

1804

Color woodblock print; surimono

A shy girl (Ono no Komachi) by Keisai Eisen

A shy girl (Ono no Komachi)

A Girl with an Attendant by Isoda Koryūsai

A Girl with an Attendant

ca. 1770

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Related Subjects

Frequently Asked Questions

Children (kodomo) in Japanese woodblock prints, depicted at play, in festivals, or in genre scenes of daily life. Child subjects appear across all periods, from Edo-era prints to modern sosaku-hanga compositions celebrating childhood innocence.

Kitagawa Utamaro, Jun'ichiro Sekino, and Kaoru Kawano are among the artists most associated with children in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.

Hanga currently catalogues 480 prints tagged with children, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.