Daily Life Prints (666)
Daily life scenes (fuzoku-ga) document the ordinary activities, occupations, and domestic routines of Japanese people across centuries. This genre transforms mundane subjects — cooking, farming, fishing, bathing, shopping, child-rearing — into compositions that reveal both the aesthetic sensibilities of their makers and the social realities of their era. The ukiyo-e tradition's depiction of daily life centered on the entertainment districts and merchant culture of Edo, with artists documenting the routines and pleasures of townspeople. Utamaro's domestic scenes of women at their toilette or caring for children showed intimate moments with unprecedented tenderness. Hokusai's "Manga" (1814-1878) sketched daily life across all social classes with encyclopedic range, from artisans at their workbenches to children at play. Shin-hanga and sosaku-hanga artists of the twentieth century brought new perspectives to daily life subjects. While shin-hanga tended toward idealized depictions of traditional activities — tea ceremony, ikebana, kimono dressing — sosaku-hanga artists engaged more directly with contemporary life, depicting factory workers, city commuters, and modern domestic settings. These prints serve as invaluable social documents, preserving customs, costumes, and environments that rapid modernization has transformed beyond recognition.
Artists Known for Daily Life
Mother and Child
c. 1915–1955
Color woodblock print
Seeking for Mother
Woodblock print
Sketches of baby (the first son of Onchi, Kunio)
Woodblock print
Girl (D)
1967
Woodblock Print
Children's fireworks — Senko Hanabi
1896
Woodblock print
Dolls in May - of the boys festival — Satsuki ningyo
1897
Woodblock print
Lovable Girls — 撫子
Not set
Woodblock print
Uptown Girl — 山の手
Not set
Woodblock print
![Untitled [portrait of a boy] by Umetaro Azechi](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/136025.jpg)
Untitled [portrait of a boy]
mid–20th century
Woodblock print, ink on paper
Panoramic view of Iwasaki Family Villa — 大泉水の全景
Woodblock print
Girl with Poppies
Woodblock print
"O'Fuko throwing beans for good luck and to drive the girls away on New Years Eve"
Woodblock print
"Russian o'shishi (acrobatic street dancer) master entertains the children of Japan"
Woodblock print
"BOY'S DAY"
Woodblock print
#1 Girl Selling Dolls (To be Sold as a Complete Set of 6)
Woodblock print
Captain Higuchi, in the Midst of the Attack, Personally Holds a Lost Chinese Child (Higuchi taii shingeki no toji mizukara Seishi no ishi o hôji suru no zu)
Woodblock print
Street girl fastening a sash by a willow tree
Woodblock print
Stepmother
Woodblock print
Stepmother
Woodblock print
The Appearance of a Ghost of a Young Girl - 娘の生霊来照
Woodblock print
Girl Applying Make-Up
Woodblock print
A Doll, from the series Twelve Subjects of Children
Woodblock print
Girl with fan
Woodblock print
Girl with western hat
Woodblock print
"Children's fireworks — Senko Hanabi"
Woodblock print
"Children's fireworks — Senko Hanabi"
Woodblock print
Customs of Children: Boys Playing War Game
Woodblock print
Two Girls by a Beach (One Girl Swimming in a Western Bathing Suit and the Other Putting on her Obi)
Woodblock print
Ko-Sodate (Child Raising) (1)
Woodblock print
A Child
Woodblock print
Girl
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
Sleeping Boy: Osamu (Nemuro otoko: Osamu)
Woodblock print
Madonna and Child
1975
Hand-colored stencil print on crumpled paper; edition 62/70
The Holy Family
1970
Hand-colored stencil print on crumpled paper; edition 18/50
Girl clasping hands
Woodblock print
Unknown, Girl Praying
Woodblock print
Unknown, sleeping child
Woodblock print
Woman Holding a Baby
Woodblock print
young girl holding a small Japanese fan
Woodblock print
young girl with a mask
Woodblock print
May; Boy's Festival
Woodblock print
Girl and Fan
Woodblock print
You Girls in Higashinaka — 東中君 咲けば藤花の習いや君のせ界
Woodblock print
Dancing girl
Woodblock print
Image No.6 Motherhood (1)
Woodblock print
Girl holding Red Fan
1952
Color woodblock print with traces of mica
Young Girl of Jaluit, Marshalls 100/150
1939
Woodblock print
Girl in Kimono
Woodblock print
Village Children Playing Baseball
1936
Woodblock print, ink on paper
All Japan Boy Scouts Jamboree
Woodblock print
Childrens Day — こどもの日記念
Woodblock print
Childrens Fair — 犬山こども博
Woodblock print
Happi Boy 2
20/100, 2004
Woodblock print
Happi Girl
117/200, 1996
Woodblock print
Girl 122 - A
Woodblock print
Children's Day, child with samurai helmet
Woodblock print
GIRL PLAYING HANETSUKI GAME
Woodblock print
Girl with Drum
Woodblock print
Maiko Girl, dancing
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Daily life scenes (fuzoku-ga) document the ordinary activities, occupations, and domestic routines of Japanese people across centuries. This genre transforms mundane subjects — cooking, farming, fishing, bathing, shopping, child-rearing — into compositions that reveal both the aesthetic sensibilities of their makers and the social realities of their era.
Miyagawa Shuntei, Hiyoshi Mamoru, and Kaoru Kawano are among the artists most associated with daily life in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 666 prints tagged with daily life, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.