Night Scenes Prints (1041)
Night scenes (yozora or yoru no keshiki) are among the most technically demanding and atmospherically compelling subjects in Japanese woodblock printmaking. The challenge of rendering darkness, artificial light, moonlight, and their interactions with architecture and landscape pushed printmakers to develop distinctive techniques that have no parallel in other print traditions. The tradition begins with Hiroshige's pioneering nocturnal views in "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo," where deep indigo skies, lantern-lit windows, and moonlit water created moody compositions that transcended topographic documentation. These techniques were refined by Meiji-era artists and reached their fullest expression in shin-hanga, where night scenes became a signature subject. Tsuchiya Koitsu became the foremost specialist in nocturnal views, producing prints that captured the warm glow of paper lanterns against deep blue-black skies with extraordinary subtlety. Kawase Hasui's night scenes, including his famous views of snow-covered landscapes under moonlight, achieved a contemplative stillness that epitomizes the shin-hanga aesthetic. The printing of night scenes required exceptional skill from the printer (surishi), who had to control multiple gradations of deep pigments and subtle light effects through precise pressure and moisture during the impression process.
Artists Known for Night Scenes
Evening in East Africa
Woodblock print
Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Matsushima in Moonlight (Tsuki no Matsushima)
1919
Color woodblock print
![A Little Restaurant [at Night] (Ryoriya no yoru) by Hiroshi Yoshida](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/e0e87290-6b97-4999-6986-731f7a56bbc9/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
A Little Restaurant [at Night] (Ryoriya no yoru)
Ryoriya no yoru
1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Snow at Shiha Park, Tokyo
1932
Woodblock print
Kiyozumi Garden in Moonlight
January 1938
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Sailing Boats: Night (Hansen, yoru), from the series "Seto Inland Sea (Seto Naikai shu)"
Hansen, yoru
1926
Color woodblock print
Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
The Taj Mahal Gardens at Night, from the series "India and Southeast Asia"
1931
Color woodblock print
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu)
circa 1935
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Evening in Beppu (Beppu no yu), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series (Tabi miyage dai sanshu)"
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
Dusk at Asō, Ibaraki Prefecture
December 1936
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Dusk at Byodo Temple (Byodoin no yu)
1950
Color woodblock print
Dusk at Itako (Itako no yu)
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Dusk at Nakaso (Nakaso no yu)
1954
Color woodblock print
Dusk at Nenoyama (Nenoyama no yugure)
1955
Color woodblock print
Dusk at the Kiba Lumber Yards (Kiba no yugure), from the series "Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (Tokyo junidai)"
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening at Tago Bay (Tago no ura no yube), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"
1940
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Rain in Kawarago (Kawarago no yau)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Shower at Imai Bridge
August 1932
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
![Evening Snow at Edo River (Kure no yuki [Edogawa]) by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/4d1fe813-5700-5aa1-6d32-3fd3b59a41eb/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Evening Snow at Edo River (Kure no yuki [Edogawa])
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Snowfall at Kiyomizu Temple (Kiyomizudera no bosetsu)
1950
Color woodblock print
Moonlight at Yasaka
八坂月光
Woodblock print
Moonlight in Mii Temple
1952
Woodblock print
Moonlight in Sarusawa Pond, Nara
猿沢の池月光
Woodblock print
Night Scene of Kitano Shrine
北野神社夜
1952
Woodblock print
Twilight in the Village, Nara
ca. 1950s
Woodblock print
A Midsummer Night's Dream
20th century
Color woodblock print
Meiji juyonnen ichigatsu ni juroku-nichi shukka Hama-cho yori utsushita Ryogoku taika
Woodblock print
Shinjuku - Tokyo at Night
Woodblock print
Constellation 73-7, Shôwa period,
Woodblock print
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
Act 11, Part 1: The Approach to the Night Attack (Juichidanme ichi, yochi oshiyose), from the series "The Revenge of the Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)"
c. 1834/39
Color woodblock print; oban
October (The Full-Moon Night at the Gate of the Chionin Monastery)
十月 (知恩院山門月夜)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Moonlit Night at Miyajima (Miyajima no tsukiyo)
1947
Color woodblock print
Kamogawa Spring Evening
鴨川春の夕
1955
Color woodblock print
Evening Rain at a Lakeside Tearoom, from the series "Collection of Views of the Moto-Hakone Minami Mountain Villa (Moto-Hakone Minami sanso fukei shu)"
1935
Color woodblock print; oban
Night at Minano, Chichibu (Chichibu Minano no yu)
c. 1946
Color woodblock print
Dusk at Aso (Outer Crater) (Aso no yu (gairin))
1948
Color woodblock print
Evening Snow at Ishinomaki (Ishinomaki no bosetsu), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"
1935
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Shower at the Bank of Tadasu River (Tadasugawara no yudachi), from the series "Famous Places in Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)"
c. 1834
Color woodblock print; oban
Springtime Evening, Ōte Gate
1952
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Moonlight Night (Cat)
Woodblock print
Evening at Shiogama
Woodblock print
Evening Snow Scene
Woodblock print
Old Town on a Wintry Night (guzhen xueye)
1998
Woodcut printed with oil-based ink
Rainy Evening at Yanaka, Tokyo
Woodblock print
Asakusa Temple at Night
浅草寺の夜
c. 1917
Lithograph
Evening at Eitaibashi
永代橋の夕
c. 1916
Lithograph
Twilight
April 1928
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with mica and embossing
Twilight, Saipan (Crépuscule, Saipan)
1939
Color woodblock print
Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing His Flute in the Moonlight
About 1883
Color woodblock print; ōban triptych
Moonlight through the Clouds off the Haneda Coast
1929 (original design by Kiyochika; published posthumously)
Color woodblock print; oban
Onsen in the Evening — いで湯の夕べ
1912
Woodblock print
Evening scene at yushima
c. 1935
Woodblock print
Night Rain
1940s printing of earlier design
Color woodblock print
Evening at Kiyamachi during the Daimonji Festival
Woodblock print
![Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 3, Horie in Summer, Twilight (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-san natsu [Horie], Yugure) by Kitano Tsunetomi](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/scholten/images/2ffd020c355cbf8a41c4b7ea341b4618.jpg)
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 3, Horie in Summer, Twilight (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-san natsu [Horie], Yugure)
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Night scenes (yozora or yoru no keshiki) are among the most technically demanding and atmospherically compelling subjects in Japanese woodblock printmaking. The challenge of rendering darkness, artificial light, moonlight, and their interactions with architecture and landscape pushed printmakers to develop distinctive techniques that have no parallel in other print traditions.
Kawase Hasui, Kobayashi Kiyochika, and Hiroshi Yoshida are among the artists most associated with night scenes in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 1041 prints tagged with night scenes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.