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
Shooting Star - 星の流れ
Woodblock print
Sunset Glow at Tsukishima by Takashi Ito
Woodblock print
Nagasaki Maruyama no kei 長崎丸山の景 / Shokoku Meisho Hyakkei 諸国名所百景
Woodblock print
Fishing for Cormorants at Nagaragawa
Woodblock print
New Star No. 2
1957
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
White Dream (Shiroi yume)
1967
Color woodblock print; edition 24/30
Nightscape
Woodblock print
Sunset glow at Tsukishima
Woodblock print
Light from Afar
Goblins
Before 1870
Kurai yokan (Premonition B)
Woodblock print
Stars before Dawn (Mimei boshi)
1970
Color woodblock print; edition 10/50
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Yukitori No Yoru
Woodblock print
Catching fireflies — Hotaru-gari
Woodblock print
The Great Dipper (B)
1969
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Ginga F (The Milky Way (F))
Woodblock print
Candle Light
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
STAR FOREST
Woodblock print
Fire - The fishing fire
Woodblock print
Catching Fireflies in the Evining Cool
Woodblock print
#25 Hotaru
Woodblock print
The Southern Cross (C)
1967
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Kiku's Shadows
1860, 7th lunar month
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Twelfth Act
1860, 5th lunar month
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Kurokumo Ōji
1867
Man with knife on rooftop
second half 1860s
Preparatory drawing for a print, ink and color on paper
Kinugayoihime
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Tanabata
1912
Color woodcut
Sunset Glow
Woodblock print
11 p.m., from the series "Twenty-Four Hours at Shinyanagi (Shinyanagi nijuyoji)"
1880
Color woodblock print
Midnight - Ichimokushu Vol 6
Woodblock print
The Old Hag of the Lonely House
1872, 11th lunar month
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Manten no hoshi (Stars of the Whole Sky)
1967
Woodblock print
Midnight - Ichimokushu Vol 6
Woodblock print
Pontocho, Kyoto
Woodblock print
#3Bar Sourire (To be Sold as a Complete Set of 6)
Woodblock print
HOSHI-NO-TSUBOMI (Star bud)
Woodblock print
Picture of the Use of Electricity during the Attack on Pyeongyang
October 1894?
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Takanawa Ushi-machi oborozuki-kei
Woodblock print
Yanagiwara ya-u
Woodblock print
Ochanomizu hotaru
Woodblock print
Fireflies at Ochanomizu — 御茶水螢
Woodblock print
A Torpedo Hitting a Russian Warship
February 1904
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Outbreak of Fire Seen from Hisamatsu-cho
1881 (Meiji 14)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Constellation 73-8, Shôwa period, circa 1970s
Woodblock print
Meiji juyonnen nigatsu juichinichi yoru taika
Woodblock print
Motomachi-dori ya-seki
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Blackout
2013
Mokuhanga on Gozen washi
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Sleepless in Helsinki
2018
Mokuhanga
Misty Blue Moon
Poured washi with phosphorescent pigments
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Place of Light
Woodblock print
A Day of Stars
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.