Snow Scenes Prints (870)
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
Kazuemachi Snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Light snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Snow-covered street in Kyoto.
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Snow at Akabane
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Keyblock impression for Snow at the Shrine
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Spring snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Girl protecting herself from the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Winter scene
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Garden lantern in the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Temple in the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Two children with a snowman and a girl with a snow rabbit
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Nikko bridge in the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Himeji Castle in the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Himeji Castle (snow)
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Snow - Shirasagi Castle
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Himeji Castle in the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Hikone Castle in the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Snow and more
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Light snow falling
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Snow side
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Spring snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Cat and snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Cat in the snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Tokyo National Museum in spring snow
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Tokyo National Museum in spring snow
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
Ima o tobe (Tocho-Ⅰ) 今を翔べ（都庁ーⅠ） (The Flying (Metropolitan Government Office-Ⅰ)) / Tokyo hyakkei niju-isseiki e no messeeji 東京百景 ２１世紀へのメッセージ (One Hundred Views of Tokyo: Message to the 21st Century)
Asakusa Rice Fields and Torinomachi Festival (Asakusa tanbo Torinomachi mode), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
1857
Color woodblock print; ōban
Rice Paddies at Ono in Suruga Province (Sunshu Ono shinden), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"
c. 1830/33
Color woodblock print; oban
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
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 Takahashi Shotei 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 870 prints tagged with snow scenes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.