Daily Life Prints (716)
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
An Artisan’s Shop, from the album The Mist of Sandara (Sandara kasumi)
1798
Color woodblock print; album plate
Fuji from Umbrella Maker's Yard in Aoyama
Woodblock print
Making paper cords for tying hair
c. 1801/18
Color woodblock print; ebangire, surimono
Making Love
1753–1806
color woodblock print
Shichijo, Shinchi, Kyoto
1976
Color woodblock print; edition 16/100
Cloth Drying
1968
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Farming
Woodblock print
Ichiriki on Hanamikoji
1979
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Album of 12 prints from the series Pictures of the Presentation of the Grand Potato
1890s
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Man and Woman
Woodblock print
Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"
n.d.
Color woodblock print
Happy Time
134/150, 2006
Woodblock print
An Old Man and Attendants Watching the Sugoroku Game
1799
Color woodblock print; surimono
Fishermen
1912
Color woodcut
Tabi 42
36/200, 1995
Woodblock print
Hara Shobō
Woodblock print
surimono (?) / diptych print
Woodblock print
Greengrocery at Nezu (Nezu shojiki yaoya)
Nezu shojiki yaoya
1926
Color woodblock print; oban
Diary: Sep. 28th, '03
2003
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: Sept. 11th, '11, in The United States
2011
Woodcut, silkscreen
Print Collection
1922
Gathering Herbs
c. 1796/97
Color woodblock print; long surimono
Waiting for the Tide
1930
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Kagurazaka Dori
1929
Woodblock print
Print process, titled
description
Woodblock print
Diary Jan. 9 1976
description
Woodblock print
Diary: Feb. 2nd, '78
1978
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: March 5th, '05 in Kashiwa
2005
Woodblock and silkscreen
Diary: Sep. 16th '01, in Israel
2001
Woodcut, silkscreen
Kite Flying
凧揚げ
c. 1906
Color woodblock print
South Wind
南風
1907
Oil on canvas
Stone Mason
石工
c. 1940
Color woodblock print
Diary: March 27th and 28th, '02
2002
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: Nov. 25th, '98
1998
Woodcut, silkscreen
Tipsy
1930
Woodblock print
Lumber Yard
1760–1849
color woodblock print
Plaything (Tawamure)
1936
Color woodblock print
Diary: March 12th '11
2011
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: February 11th, 1995 (b), Sleeping Man and Newspaper
1995
Woodblock print
White Diary (34/45)
Woodblock print
Silk Dyeing
Woodblock print
Ohara-me
Woodblock print
Diary: Jan. 19th, '98, 1998
description
Woodblock print
Diary: Nov. 8th, '10
2010
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: Feb. 23rd '02, in London
2002
Screenprint
Diary: March 5th, '79 (b)
1979
Woodblock and silkscreen
Farmers at Rest
休む農夫たち
c. 1932
Color woodblock print
Plasterer
左官
c. 1940
Color woodblock print
Chinese and Tartar Boys Quarreling over a Game of Go
c. 1790
Woodblock print; oban, keyblock proof impression
Diary: April 24th '97
1997
Screenprint
The Chest Containing Various Teachings (Kyokun zonagamochi)
1784
Woodblock-printed book; 5 vols.
Kites
1912
Color woodcut
Umbrellas
Woodblock print
Diary Nov 12th '75
1975
Woodblock print
Diary: March 31st, '78
1978
Woodblock and silkscreen print
The Tattoo, Jaluit (Le Tatouage, Jaluit)
1935
Color woodblock print
Diary: July 18 '08, in Israel
2008
Woodcut, silkscreen
Diary: Nov. 7th '68 ( #1)
1968
Woodblock and silkscreen prints
Plaything
Woodblock print
Waves of Potential Immigrants from Many Lands (Shikinamigusa)
1796
Color woodblock-printed book; 1 vol.
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, Kaoru Kawano, and Hiyoshi Mamoru 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 716 prints tagged with daily life, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.