Snow Scenes Prints (1012)
Snow scenes (yuki no keshiki) hold a special place in Japanese woodblock printmaking as one of the tradition's most technically demanding and aesthetically prized subjects. The challenge of depicting whiteness — using the paper itself as the primary "color" for snow — required exceptional planning from the artist and virtuosic restraint from the printer, who had to leave precise areas of the block unprinted while building up surrounding tones. Hiroshige's snow scenes, particularly in "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" and the "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido," established the visual vocabulary of the genre: falling flakes rendered as white spaces against dark skies, snow-laden branches bowing under crystalline weight, and human figures hunched against winter cold. His ability to convey the hush and stillness of a snow-covered landscape through the woodblock medium influenced every subsequent generation of printmakers. Kawase Hasui made snow scenes a signature specialty, producing dozens of views that are among shin-hanga's most sought-after images. His prints of temple gates, mountain villages, and riverside scenes under fresh snowfall achieve a crystalline clarity and contemplative calm that epitomize the movement's aesthetic. The technical achievement of these prints — particularly the subtle blue and gray gradations surrounding areas of pure white paper — represents some of the highest accomplishments of the woodblock printing craft.
Artists Known for Snow Scenes
Fair Weather After Snow at Yamato Bridge, Kyoto (Yamato bashi no yukibare), Taishô period, dated 1924
Woodblock print
The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Miyajima in Snow (Yuki no Miyajima)
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Snow at Shiha Park, Tokyo
1932
Woodblock print
Late Snow Along Edo River
1932
Woodblock print
Pine Tree in Clear Weather after Snow
August 1929
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Saishoin Temple in Snow, Hirosaki
description
Woodblock print
Clearing after a Snow in the Pines (Matsu no yukibare)
August 1929
Color woodblock print
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu)
circa 1935
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Shrine in the Snow
Woodblock print
Clearing after a Snowfall at the Sekiyado (Sekiyado no yukibare)
1946
Color woodblock print
Clearing after a Snowfall on Mount Fuji (Tagonoura Beach) (Fuji no yukibare (Tagonoura))
January 1932
Color woodblock print
Clearing after a Snowfall, Yoshida (Yoshida no yukibare)
1944
Color woodblock print
![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
Light Snow at Demachi District
出町小雪
Woodblock print
Maiko in Snow
舞妓雪
Woodblock print
Pagoda in Snow
Woodblock print
Silver Pavilion in Snow
銀閣寺雪
Woodblock print
Snow at Chioin Temple
Woodblock print
Snow at Chion-in Temple
知恩院雪
ca. 1950s
Woodblock print
Snow at Kamigamo Shrine
上賀茂神社雪
Woodblock print
Snow at Kofukuji Temple
興福寺雪
Woodblock print
Snow in Toji Temple
東寺雪
Woodblock print
Snow in Yuki Shrine
由岐神社雪
Woodblock print
Temple Gate in Snow
Woodblock print
Temple in Snow
Woodblock print
Clearing after a Snowfall at the Kannon Temple in Asakusa (Asakusa Kannon no yukibare), from the series "Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijukkei)"
1926
Color woodblock print; oban
Snow in Nakazato (Nakazato no yuki), from the series "Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (Tokyo junidai no uchi)"
Nakazato no yuki
1928
Color woodblock print; double oban
Lingering Snow at Senzoku Pond (Senzokuike no zanesetsu)
1951
Color woodblock print
January (Snow Scene at the Byodoin Temple in Uji)
一月 (宇治平等院雪景)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
December (Snow Scene at the Golden Pavilion)
十二月 (金閣寺雪景)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Snow Covered Bridge
Woodblock print
Snow in Hiunkaku
飛雲閣雪
ca. 1950s
Woodblock print
Kiyomizu Temple in the Snow
Woodblock print
Nawa Shrine in Snow
Woodblock print
Shirahige Shrine in the Snow
Woodblock print
Mt. Fuji, Clearing after a Snowfall in Oshiono (Fuji no yukibare (Oshiono fukin))
1952
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
Snow on the banks of the Kamo River (Kamo tsutsumi no yuki) from the series Kyoraku Meisho (Famous places about Kyoto).
Woodblock print
Snow at a Guest House on Pond's Edge (Chihan kyakushitshu no yuki)
1920
Color woodblock print
Snow at Funabori (Funabori no Yuki)
January 1932
Color woodblock print
Snow at Inokashira (Inokashira no yuki)
1928
Color woodblock print
Snow at Kiba (Kiba no yuki)
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Snow at Kiyosumi Garden (Kiyosumien no yuki)
February 1938
Color woodblock print
Snow at Miyajima Shrine
1930s
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Snow at the Silver Pavilion (Ginkakuji no yuki)
June 1933
Color woodblock print
Snow at Tosho Shrine, Ueno (Ueno Toshogu no yuki)
July 1929
Color woodblock print
Snow at Zojo Temple (Yuki no Zojoji)
1922
Color woodblock print; oban
Kingfisher on Snowy Stump
Shōwa period, 1935
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Evening Snow Scene
Woodblock print
Haru no yuki - Asakusa Torigoe jinja (Spring Snow - The Torigoe Shrine at Asakusa)
Woodblock print
Red Gate in Snow
Woodblock print
Snow — 雪
Woodblock print
Snow In Matsushima, Matsujima
Woodblock print
Rapids in Kunitachi Park in Towada in snow (Oirase)
Woodblock print
Unknown, Flowers in Snow
Woodblock print
Glaring at the Ice and Snow
1953
Color woodblock print; edition 4/10
Snow Play
雪遊び
c. 1906
Color woodblock print
Snow - 雪
Not set
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Snow scenes (yuki no keshiki) hold a special place in Japanese woodblock printmaking as one of the tradition's most technically demanding and aesthetically prized subjects. The challenge of depicting whiteness — using the paper itself as the primary "color" for snow — required exceptional planning from the artist and virtuosic restraint from the printer, who had to leave precise areas of the block unprinted while building up surrounding tones.
Kawase Hasui, Kobayashi Kiyochika, and Jun'ichiro Sekino are among the artists most associated with snow scenes in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 1012 prints tagged with snow scenes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.