Hanga

Moonlight Prints (434)

Moon-lit scenes (tsuki) and lunar compositions in Japanese woodblock prints. Moonlight prints use dramatic tonal contrasts to evoke atmosphere, from full moons over castle towers to crescent moons reflected in still water.

Artists Known for Moonlight

Autumn Moon at the Temple Ishiyamadera from the series Fashionable Eight Views by Kikukawa Eizan

Autumn Moon at the Temple Ishiyamadera from the series Fashionable Eight Views

c. 1814–17

Color woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Cuckoo and Moon (surimono) by Mori Kansai

Cuckoo and Moon (surimono)

月下時鳥摺物

1865

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper with metallic pigments

Snow, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers of the Floating World (Ukiyo setsugekka)" by Katsukawa Shunchō

Snow, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers of the Floating World (Ukiyo setsugekka)"

c. 1784/85

Color woodblock print; oban

The Actor Onoe Kikugoro V as the Priest Sogen (Yuki: Iwakura Sogen Onoe Baiko), from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers (Setsugekka no uchi)" by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

The Actor Onoe Kikugoro V as the Priest Sogen (Yuki: Iwakura Sogen Onoe Baiko), from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers (Setsugekka no uchi)"

1890

Color woodblock prints; oban triptych

Small-horned owl, pine, and crescent moon by Utagawa Hiroshige

Small-horned owl, pine, and crescent moon

1830s

Color woodblock print; chutanzaku

Moonlight View of Suihiro Bridge, Tempozan by Yashima Gakutei

Moonlight View of Suihiro Bridge, Tempozan

1838

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Trees in Moonlight by Yoshijiro Urushibara

Trees in Moonlight

Bright Moon Night by Tsuji Kakō

Bright Moon Night

月夜図

1912

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Castle, Moon & Birds by Keiko Minami

Castle, Moon & Birds

Morning Glories, Pinks, and Maiden Flower, from the series "Seven Autumn Flowers in Moonlight" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Morning Glories, Pinks, and Maiden Flower, from the series "Seven Autumn Flowers in Moonlight"

1830/44

Color woodblock print; uchiwa-e

Bat Flying Over the Moon by Kameda Bōsai

Bat Flying Over the Moon

ca. 1824

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Crossing a River on a Moonlit Night by Isoda Koryūsai

Crossing a River on a Moonlit Night

c. 1775

Color woodblock print; hashira-e

The Actors Otani Hiroemon III as Shinagawa Okaminosuke (right), and Ichikawa Danjuro V as Arashishi Otokonosuke (left), in the Play Fuki Kaete Tsuki mo Yoshiwara (Rethatched Roof: The Moon also Shines Over the Yoshiwara Pleasure District), Performed at the Morita Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1771 by Katsukawa Shunshō

The Actors Otani Hiroemon III as Shinagawa Okaminosuke (right), and Ichikawa Danjuro V as Arashishi Otokonosuke (left), in the Play Fuki Kaete Tsuki mo Yoshiwara (Rethatched Roof: The Moon also Shines Over the Yoshiwara Pleasure District), Performed at the Morita Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1771

c. 1771/72

Color woodblock print; from the illustrated book Yakusha Kuni no Hana (Prominent Actors of Japan)

A Full Moon by Keisai Eisen

A Full Moon

Moon Cherry Blossoms by Ohara Koson

Moon Cherry Blossoms

Rabbits under full moon by Utagawa Hiroshige

Rabbits under full moon

c. 1830s

Color woodblock print; chutanzaku

Returning Junks - Seto Inland Sea in Moonlight by Okazaki Shintaro

Returning Junks - Seto Inland Sea in Moonlight

Chrysanthemums and the Rising Moon by Suzuki Harunobu

Chrysanthemums and the Rising Moon

c. 1766

Color woodblock print; chuban

Viewing the Moon by Suzuki Harunobu

Viewing the Moon

c. 1767/68

Color woodblock print; chuban

Autumn Moon at Seto (Seto shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views of Kanazawa (Kanazawa hakkei)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Autumn Moon at Seto (Seto shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views of Kanazawa (Kanazawa hakkei)"

c. 1835/36

Color woodblock print; oban

Moon, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers of the Floating World (Ukiyo setsugekka)" by Katsukawa Shunchō

Moon, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers of the Floating World (Ukiyo setsugekka)"

c. 1784/85

Color woodblock print; oban

Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô V as the Buddhist Deity Fudô in “Rethatched Roof: The Moon Also Shines over the Yoshiwara Pleasure District” (“Fuke Kaete Tsuki mo Yoshiwara”) by Katsukawa Shunshō

Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô V as the Buddhist Deity Fudô in “Rethatched Roof: The Moon Also Shines over the Yoshiwara Pleasure District” (“Fuke Kaete Tsuki mo Yoshiwara”)

About 1771

Color woodblock print; hosoban

Shirahama 'Engetsuto' ('Round Moon Island' at Shirahama) / Shin Nihon hyakkei 新日本百景 (One Hundred New Views of Japan, No. 35) by Maeda Toshiro

Shirahama 'Engetsuto' ('Round Moon Island' at Shirahama) / Shin Nihon hyakkei 新日本百景 (One Hundred New Views of Japan, No. 35)

Twilight Moon at the Ryogoku Bridge (Ryogoku no yoizuki), from the series "Famous Views of the Eastern Capital (Toto Meisho)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Twilight Moon at the Ryogoku Bridge (Ryogoku no yoizuki), from the series "Famous Views of the Eastern Capital (Toto Meisho)"

c. 1831

Color woodblock print; oban

Moon over Ryogoku Bridge in Summer (Natsu Ryogoku no tsuki), from the series "Famous Places in Edo in the Four Seasons (Shiki Koto meisho)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Moon over Ryogoku Bridge in Summer (Natsu Ryogoku no tsuki), from the series "Famous Places in Edo in the Four Seasons (Shiki Koto meisho)"

c. 1832/34

Color woodblock print; chutanzaku

Misty Moonlight on the Shore at Tsukuda Island (Tsukudajima kaihen oborozuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Misty Moonlight on the Shore at Tsukuda Island (Tsukudajima kaihen oborozuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"

c. 1835/38

Color woodblock print; chutanzaku

Autumn Moon at New Yoshiwara in Emonzaka (Shin Yoshiwara Emonzaka shugetsu), from the series "Famous Views of the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Autumn Moon at New Yoshiwara in Emonzaka (Shin Yoshiwara Emonzaka shugetsu), from the series "Famous Views of the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"

c. 1835/38

Color woodblock print; chu-tanzaku

Pine Tree and Full Moon by Taki Katei

Pine Tree and Full Moon

松に満月図

ca. 1880-1890

Color woodblock print

Moonlight over Lake Kamo, Sado by Kawase Hasui

Moonlight over Lake Kamo, Sado

August 16, 1921

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Murasaki Shikibu: Bird, from the series "Famous Women and Their Poems on Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon (Meifu eika kacho fugetsu)" by Kitagawa Utamaro

Murasaki Shikibu: Bird, from the series "Famous Women and Their Poems on Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon (Meifu eika kacho fugetsu)"

c. 1805

Color woodblock print; oban

Evening View of the Eight Famous Places near Kanazawa Under Full Moon in Musashi Province by Utagawa Hiroshige

Evening View of the Eight Famous Places near Kanazawa Under Full Moon in Musashi Province

1857

One of a triptych of color woodblock prints

Moonlight at Ryogoku by Utagawa Hiroshige

Moonlight at Ryogoku

1856

Print

Evening Moon at Izumizaki (Izumizaki yagetsu), from the series “Eight Views of Ryukyu Islands (Ryukyu hakkei)” by Katsushika Hokusai

Evening Moon at Izumizaki (Izumizaki yagetsu), from the series “Eight Views of Ryukyu Islands (Ryukyu hakkei)”

c. 1832

Color woodblock print

The Minister Toru Daijin Standing by a Lake Beneath a Crescent Moon, from the series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poetry by Katsushika Hokusai

The Minister Toru Daijin Standing by a Lake Beneath a Crescent Moon, from the series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poetry

1834–35

color woodblock print

Autumn Moon over Ishiyama Temple (Ishiyama shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views of Omi (Omi hakkei)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Autumn Moon over Ishiyama Temple (Ishiyama shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views of Omi (Omi hakkei)"

1857

Color woodblock print; oban

Sketch for Autumn Moon at Ishiyama Temple (Ishiyama no shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views in Omi Province (Omi hakkei)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Sketch for Autumn Moon at Ishiyama Temple (Ishiyama no shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views in Omi Province (Omi hakkei)"

c. 1859

Ink on paper

Full Moon on Kanazawa, Musashi by Utagawa Hiroshige

Full Moon on Kanazawa, Musashi

1857

One of a triptych of color woodblock prints

Moon-Mad Monk by Kitagawa Utamaro

Moon-Mad Monk

1789

Print

Courtesan Kiyokawa, Karigane Bunshichi, and Kaminari Shōkurō from the series Models of Love Talk: Clouds Form Over the Moon (Chiwa kagami tsuki no murakumo) by Kitagawa Utamaro

Courtesan Kiyokawa, Karigane Bunshichi, and Kaminari Shōkurō from the series Models of Love Talk: Clouds Form Over the Moon (Chiwa kagami tsuki no murakumo)

c. 1798-1800 (Kansei 10-Kansei 12)

Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

Woman (Bijin) Looking at the Moon's Reflection, from the series Mu Tamagawa by Suzuki Harunobu

Woman (Bijin) Looking at the Moon's Reflection, from the series Mu Tamagawa

mid-1700s

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

A Party Viewing the Moon Across the Sumida River by Torii Kiyonaga

A Party Viewing the Moon Across the Sumida River

c. 1787

Color woodblock print; oban triptych

Rabbits in moonlight by Utagawa Hiroshige

Rabbits in moonlight

c. 1849/52

Color woodblock print; uchiwa-e

A Courtesan and Attendant on a Moonlit Veranda by Suzuki Harunobu

A Courtesan and Attendant on a Moonlit Veranda

1765-1770

Print

Wild Geese Flying Across Full Moon by Utagawa Hiroshige

Wild Geese Flying Across Full Moon

late 1830s

Color woodblock print; aitanzaku

Moon, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flower in a Cool Breeze (Furyo setsugekka no uchi)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Moon, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flower in a Cool Breeze (Furyo setsugekka no uchi)"

Early to mid-18th century

Color woodblock print; uchiwa-e

Bush Warbler on a Plum Tree in Moonlight by Utagawa Hiroshige

Bush Warbler on a Plum Tree in Moonlight

ca. 1840-1842

Print

Two Courtesans on a Moonlit Balcony at a House of Pleasure in Shinagawa, from the series "Nan'eki Shufu" by Katsukawa Shunshō

Two Courtesans on a Moonlit Balcony at a House of Pleasure in Shinagawa, from the series "Nan'eki Shufu"

c. 1774

Color woodblock print; oban

FLOWERS, BIRDS, WINDS AND MOON (Kachō fūgetsu) by Kitagawa Utamaro

FLOWERS, BIRDS, WINDS AND MOON (Kachō fūgetsu)

Late Edo period,

Ukiyo-e woodblock print in "ōban" format; ink and color on paper

Landscape with Ferry Boat, Geese and Full Moon by Totoya Hokkei

Landscape with Ferry Boat, Geese and Full Moon

early 1830s

color woodblock print

Moonlight on the Yodo River (Yodogawa), from the series "Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka)" by Katsushika Hokusai

Moonlight on the Yodo River (Yodogawa), from the series "Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka)"

c. 1833

Color woodblock print; oban

Autumn Moon Over the Ryōgoku Bridge (Ryōgoku no shūgetsu), from the series Eight Fashionable Views of Edo (Fūryū Tōto hakkei) by Katsushika Hokusai

Autumn Moon Over the Ryōgoku Bridge (Ryōgoku no shūgetsu), from the series Eight Fashionable Views of Edo (Fūryū Tōto hakkei)

Late Edo period, circa 1803-1805

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper

Moonrise Over the Nihon Embankment and the Yoshiwara by Kitagawa Utamaro

Moonrise Over the Nihon Embankment and the Yoshiwara

1790

color woodblock print

Eight Indoor Scenes (Zashiki Hakkei): A Mirror Stand-The Autumn Moon (Kyôdai no shûgetsu) by Suzuki Harunobu

Eight Indoor Scenes (Zashiki Hakkei): A Mirror Stand-The Autumn Moon (Kyôdai no shûgetsu)

Shinano Province: The Moon Reflected in the Sarashina Rice Fields near Mount Kyôdai (Shinano, Sarashina tagoto no tsuki, Kyōdaisan), from the series Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces (Rokujūyoshū meisho zue) by Utagawa Hiroshige

Shinano Province: The Moon Reflected in the Sarashina Rice Fields near Mount Kyôdai (Shinano, Sarashina tagoto no tsuki, Kyōdaisan), from the series Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces (Rokujūyoshū meisho zue)

1853

Color woodblock print; ōban

Autumn Moon at Matsuchiyama by Utagawa Hiroshige

Autumn Moon at Matsuchiyama

1843-1847

Print

Autumn Moon of Matsukaze by Suzuki Harunobu

Autumn Moon of Matsukaze

1765-70

Print

Yoshino, from the series "Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka)" by Katsushika Hokusai

Yoshino, from the series "Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka)"

c. 1833

Color woodblock print; oban

A Cuckoo Against the Moon by Utagawa Hiroshige

A Cuckoo Against the Moon

c. 1843/46

Color woodblock print; uchiwa-e

Snow at Benzaiten Shrine in Inokashira Pond (Inokashira no ike Benzaiten no yashiro yuki no kei), from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers at Famous Places (Meisho setsugekka)" by Utagawa Hiroshige

Snow at Benzaiten Shrine in Inokashira Pond (Inokashira no ike Benzaiten no yashiro yuki no kei), from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers at Famous Places (Meisho setsugekka)"

c. 1844/45

Color woodblock print; oban

Clear Skies after Snow--Ryogoku in Moonlight by Utagawa Hiroshige

Clear Skies after Snow--Ryogoku in Moonlight

1843-1847

Print

Related Subjects

Frequently Asked Questions

Moon-lit scenes (tsuki) and lunar compositions in Japanese woodblock prints. Moonlight prints use dramatic tonal contrasts to evoke atmosphere, from full moons over castle towers to crescent moons reflected in still water.

Utagawa Hiroshige, Kawase Hasui, and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi are among the artists most associated with moonlight in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.

Hanga currently catalogues 434 prints tagged with moonlight, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.