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
Kimono — 着物
1898
Woodblock print
Picnic
1897
Woodblock print
Taru Mikoshi
1897
Woodblock print
Circus (Kyokuba)
Woodblock print
![[Western Games] by Inoue Yasuji](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/famsf/images/3306201405530023.jpg)
[Western Games]
Woodblock print
A Visitor — 客人
Not set
Woodblock print
Change to wear zori - strawsandals — Zori Haki-Kae
1897
Woodblock print
Hagoita- Badminte- Shuttlecock — やり羽子
Not set
Woodblock print
Sculpturing (1)
9
Woodblock print
Man in a Flurry, from an album of six woodblock prints
1958
Color woodblock print
After A Bath — 湯上がり
1898
Woodblock print
Fishing — Uo-tsuri
1897
Woodblock print
Shell gathering at low tide
1896
Woodblock print
Yūzen Process
1969
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Yugijo (1) (Playground (1))
Woodblock print
Goryo Pleasure area
Woodblock print
Aunt over there — Muko no Obasan
1896
Woodblock print
A Grudge Against Each Other
1904
Woodblock print
Drawing Tansai- sumi and light water color painting
1897
Woodblock print
Hopping on one leg
1897
Woodblock print
Mosquito — 蚊やり
1897
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The Nakasu Sandbar
Woodblock print
Umbrella
Woodblock print
Hairdressing — 髪結
Not set
Woodblock print
Make-Up — 化粧
Not set
Woodblock print
Play Ground (2)
Shōwa period, dated 1964
Woodblock print; ink on paper with signature reading "Hideo Hagiwara"
Dobutsuen- Zoo
Not set
Woodblock print
Dressing Her Daughter — 娘の仕度
1897
Woodblock print
Going Out — おでかけ
Not set
Woodblock print
Go- Japanese Game — 囲碁
Not set
Woodblock print
July — 其七 海水浴
1898
Woodblock print
Kodomo fuzoku
1897
Woodblock print
Table of Contents — 目次
Not set
Woodblock print
Print 1
Woodblock print
Red and White Shishi Dancers
Woodblock print
Hara Shobō
Woodblock print
Rouge
1931
Woodblock print
Circus No. 6
1968
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with mica
Quiet Couple- oban
Woodblock print
January; Kite and Battledore
Woodblock print
Fushimi Dolls
Woodblock print
#6 Rouge
1931
Woodblock print
Make-up (45/100)
1930
Woodblock print
Make-up
1930
Woodblock print
Chef prepares dish in bowl
Woodblock print
Untitled (hiyoshi-mamoru)
Woodblock print
Le Nid Coree
1941
Woodblock print
Ancient Court Wagon for Ladies
Woodblock print
Styles of Contemporary Make-up: no. 1, Tipsy (Kindaijisesho no uchi: ichi, Horoyoi)
1930
Woodblock print
Happy Kimono (AI)
150/150, 2001
Woodblock print
School Days - 2
1995
Woodblock print
Welcome
Woodblock print
Clown Acrobat, Shôwa period, dated 1960
Woodblock print
Pedlars
Woodblock print
![Title unknown [Young couple looking into a well] by Takehisa Yumeji](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/132729.jpg)
Title unknown [Young couple looking into a well]
1910s–1930s
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Nails (three in series)
1930
Woodblock print
A Picture Contest — 絵合
Woodblock print
Drawing - European Barber
Woodblock print
Happy Kimono 6
60/150, 2007
Woodblock print
Letter
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, 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.