Landscapes Prints (4044)
Landscapes are the most celebrated subject in Japanese woodblock printmaking, encompassing mountain vistas, coastal panoramas, river valleys, and rural scenes that have defined the genre for centuries. The tradition reached its first peak with Hokusai's "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" (1831) and Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido" (1833-34), series that established the meisho-e (famous places) format as a cornerstone of ukiyo-e. Shin-hanga artists of the early twentieth century, particularly Kawase Hasui and Hiroshi Yoshida, reinvented the landscape tradition by combining Western atmospheric effects with Japanese compositional sensibilities. Hasui's snow scenes and twilight views of rural Japan became iconic, while Yoshida's mountain studies introduced plein-air observation techniques unprecedented in woodblock printing. Sosaku-hanga artists like Toshi Yoshida and Shiro Kasamatsu further expanded the landscape vocabulary through personal expression and experimental color palettes. Japanese landscape prints typically emphasize seasonal atmosphere, weather conditions, and the interplay between human presence and natural grandeur. The use of bokashi (graduated color) and multiple impression techniques creates depth and luminosity that distinguish woodblock landscapes from other printmaking traditions.
Artists Known for Landscapes
Misty landscape
Woodblock print
Child walking through snowy field
Woodblock print
Breton Landscape
c. 1913
Woodblock print
Dutch girl in landscape
Japanese, Taishô era
Woodblock print
View of Moscow
c. 1917
Color woodblock print
Night View of Takanawa
Woodblock print
Distant View of Mount Fuji at Dawn from Hakone
c. 1828/30
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
![A Boat Laden with Masonry, Awa Province (Ishizumu fune [Boshu]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, First Series (Tabi miyage dai isshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/1d1e45a7-2153-e530-e16e-4ea11472525c/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
A Boat Laden with Masonry, Awa Province (Ishizumu fune [Boshu]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, First Series (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Ishizumu fune [Boshu]
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Landscape
Woodblock print
Chion Temple, Kyoto, from the series "Collection of Scenic Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition" (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen, Kyoto Chionin)
August 1933
Color woodblock print
Futago Islands, Matsushima (Matsushima Futagojima), from the series “Collection of Scenic Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"
Matsushima Futagojima
December 1933
Color woodblock print
Gion Bridge at Hondo Amakusa, (Amakusa Hondo Gion-bashi), from the series "Selction of Views of Japan (Nihon fukei senshu)"
Amakusa Hondo Gion-bashi
1924
Color woodblock print; oban
Hall of the Golden Hue, Chuson Temple, Hiraizumi, from the series “Collection of Scenic Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition” (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen, Hiraizumi Chusonji Konjikido)
October, 1935
Color woodblock print
Kannon Temple at Abuto (Abuto no Kannon), from the series "Selection of Views of Japan (Nihon fukei senshu)"
Abuto no Kannon
1922
Color woodblock print; oban
Kikyo Gate (Kikyomon), from the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijukkei)"
Kikyomon
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
Kintai Bridge in Suo Province (Suo Kintaikyo), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series (Tabi miyage dai sanshu)"
Suo Kintaikyo
1924
Color woodblock print; oban
![Misty Moonlight at Matsue in Izumo Province (Izumo Matsue [oborozuki]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series (Tabi miyage dai sanshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/7b184838-7c8e-01f1-cefe-43fe3e3bc339/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Misty Moonlight at Matsue in Izumo Province (Izumo Matsue [oborozuki]), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series (Tabi miyage dai sanshu)"
Izumo Matsue [oborozuki]
1924
Color woodblock print; oban
Moon over the Ara River, Akabane, from the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo" (Tokyo nijukei, Arakawa no tsuki (Akabane))
Tokyo nijukei, Arakawa no tsuki (Akabane
1929
Color woodblock print
![Title unknown [black and white landscape with bridge] by Kihei Sasajima](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135823.jpg)
Title unknown [black and white landscape with bridge]
1947
Woodblock print, ink on paper
![Title unknown [Landscape with figure standing in grasses] by Kihei Sasajima](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135843.jpg)
Title unknown [Landscape with figure standing in grasses]
1947
Woodblock print, ink on paper
![Title unknown [landscape with stream] by Kihei Sasajima](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135921.jpg)
Title unknown [landscape with stream]
1954
Woodblock print, ink on paper
Pulguk Temple, Kyongiu, from the series "Eight Views of Korea" (Chosen hakkei, Keishu Bukkokuji)
September 1939
Color woodblock print
Yotsuya Scene (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century 東京百景 21世紀へのメッセジ)
1989-99
Senzoku Pond (Senzokuike), from the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijukkei)"
Senzokuike
1928
Color woodblock print; oban
Snow at a Guest House Overlooking a Pond, from an untitled series of views of the Mitsubishi villa in Fukagawa
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Zojoji Temple in Shiba (Shiba Zojoji), from the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijukkei)"
Shiba Zojoji
1925
Color woodblock print
Yasugi Kiyomizu Temple, Izumo Province (Izumo, Yasugi Kiyomizu), from the series "Selection of Views of Japan (Nihon fukei senshu)"
Izumo, Yasugi Kiyomizu
1926
Color woodblock print; oban
Snow landscape
Woodblock print
snowy farm landscape
Woodblock print
Eight Views of Omi: Evening Snow at Hira
近江八景 比良の暮雪
1917
Color woodblock print
View of Mt. Fuji
Woodblock print
View of under the Ichikawa bridge from Edogawa — 江戸川堤から市川橋下を見る
Woodblock print
Haneda Ferry & Denken Shrine
Illustrations of Vengence out of Loyality & Filial Piety
Kabuki Theatre
Pines on Maiko Beach
Selling Bonito on Beach
Hitachi Province
Urban landscape 1/4
Woodblock print
Imazu, the Sixtieth Station
Moonlight at Takanawa
Odawara, Sakawa-Gawa
Trees in a Field
Woodblock print
View of Mt. Fuji from Lake Ashinoko
Woodblock print
View of Kobe Harbor
Woodblock print
Yabake Valley, Oita Prefecture, Taishô period, dated 1918
Taishô period, 1912-1926
Woodblock print
Komagata Temple & Azuma Bridge
Shimmei Shrine and Zojoji Temple
The Timberyard, Fukagawa Ikiyo-e
New 8 Views of Japan
Woodblock print
Village Landscape
Woodblock print
Landscape in greens
Woodblock print
New Sketches of the Field (Shin yagai shohin)
Woodblock print
Night View of Shinjuku, from the series Recollections of Tokyo
1945
Color woodblock print
Sketch for the print "View of Mount Bandai"
c. 1941
Watercolor and pencil sketch (woodblock print: 1962.247)
View of Mount Bandai
1941
Color woodblock print
![Kiba Lumberyard along the River at Fukugawa (New Edition) [Fukagawa-ku, kiba no kawasuji (shinpan)], from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)" by Kishio Koizumi](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/f6380c15-6d23-c26a-899d-08ead4db792b/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Kiba Lumberyard along the River at Fukugawa (New Edition) [Fukagawa-ku, kiba no kawasuji (shinpan)], from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)"
1940
Color woodblock print; oban
Sengakuji Temple in Snow (Yuki no Sengakuji), from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)"
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
The Memorial Hall of the Earthquake in Honjo, from the series One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Distant View of Sotosakurada
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Landscapes are the most celebrated subject in Japanese woodblock printmaking, encompassing mountain vistas, coastal panoramas, river valleys, and rural scenes that have defined the genre for centuries. The tradition reached its first peak with Hokusai's "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" (1831) and Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido" (1833-34), series that established the meisho-e (famous places) format as a cornerstone of ukiyo-e.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Kawase Hasui, and Hiroshi Yoshida are among the artists most associated with landscapes in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 4044 prints tagged with landscapes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.