Night Scenes Prints (954)
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
Miniature Print of travellers at night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Starry night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night view of Dotonbori Canal
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Autumn twilight
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Snowy Night
Etching
Dusk
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night guard and child
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Twilight At Kudan hill
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Kudan hill at dusk
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Inokashira Park at dusk
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
The Lijang River in the evening
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Fox In a moonlit evening
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Harbour (moonlit night)
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night in Asakusa
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Spring moon on hazy night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Two Girls on a summer evening
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Spring night in Kiyomizu(dera)
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Evening moon and foal
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night Of Shinjuku
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night At Shinjuku
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Evening twilight at Haneda Airport
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night Rain
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Evening glow at sea
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Giant blossoming cherry tree at night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
A Night Stall in Hakata
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night of Ginza
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Dusk at Ochanomizu
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Twilight at Futako
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Spring evening in Ueno Park, Tokyo
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Twilight at Honami Hotspring, Shinshu
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Cherry blossoms in the evening (Kanbayashi Spa, Shinshu)
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Misty evening at Shinobazu Pond
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Evening sky at Suwa shrine
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Spring evening
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Evening cool
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Dusk
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Winter evening
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Full Moon on the fifteenth Night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Evening in Miho
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Spring dusk at Tôshô shrine, Ueno
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Night: fire at Yama Shinzan
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Long-lasting evening moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Twilight at Lake Kawaguchi
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Evening sky
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Mt. Fuji in a moonlit night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Black night - Ginza
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Two night cats
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Owl in the night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Piano in the night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
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
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
Evening Glow for Date no Yosaku and Seki no Koman (Date no Yosaku Seki no Koman Sekisho), from the series Eight views of Traveling Lovers from Joruri Plays (Michiyuki hakkei)
Evening Snow at Sanjūgen Canal (Sanjūgenbori no bosetsu), from the unfinished series Twelve Months of Tokyo (Tōkyō jūnikagetsu)
1920
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
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 Takahashi Shotei 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 954 prints tagged with night scenes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.