Daily Life Prints (881)
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
Portrait of a Girl
20th century
Woodblock print
"Act V of Chûshingura and others, from the series A Children's Handbook of String Pictures (Kyokumusubi osana tehon)"
Woodblock print
Lieutenant-Colonel Tomioka, Commander of the Eleventh Infantry Regiment
February 1895
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
"Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô"
Woodblock print
Hotei Carrying Chinese Children across Stream in His Bag
Woodblock print
The Wife and Child (Tsumako no saku), from the series "The Tale of the Auklet (Uto Hanga-kan)"
1938
Woodblock print
Image No.6 Motherhood (1)
Woodblock print
"Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô"
Woodblock print
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
"Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô"
Woodblock print
#1 Girl Selling Dolls (To be Sold as a Complete Set of 6)
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
View of Iwaskai Family Villa
Woodblock print
Panoramic view of Iwasaki Family Villa — 大泉水の全景
Woodblock print
Panoramic view of Iwasaki Family Villa — 大泉水の全景
Woodblock print
Panoramic view of Iwasaki Family Villa — 大泉水の全景
Woodblock print
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
Dancing Girl
Woodblock print
Cherry Tree being admired by an old man with a small child
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
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
Women and Children Viewing the Fireworks
c. 1798
Color 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 Ball, from the series Twelve Subjects of Children
Woodblock print
A Doll, from the series Twelve Subjects of Children
Woodblock print
Girl in Kimono
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
Girls Day Festival (1)
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
Child carrying a younger child 2
Woodblock print
Girl clasping hands
Woodblock print
Unknown, Girl Praying
Woodblock print
Unknown, sleeping child
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.
Kaoru Kawano, Hiyoshi Mamoru, and Miyagawa Shuntei 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 881 prints tagged with daily life, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.