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
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Snow Scene of the Bank of Japan near Eitaibashi Bridge
Woodblock print
Clear Sky after Snow at the Old Castle Keep
c. 1877 (Meiji 10)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e): ink and color on paper
Snowy rooftops
Woodblock print
![Light Snow, Customs of Young Women: Beauty of the Fifteenth Year of Meiji [1882] (Meiji Jugonen Koro no Fuzoku) by Kaburaki Kiyokata](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/scholten/images/dd121e23b3aa0e77864754bb13fc0cc9.jpg)
Light Snow, Customs of Young Women: Beauty of the Fifteenth Year of Meiji [1882] (Meiji Jugonen Koro no Fuzoku)
1925
Woodblock print
Light Snowfall- V1
Not set
Woodblock print
Japanese House in Snow / Snowy Morning
Early 20th century, or 1940s printing of earlier design
Color woodblock print
Snow hare 63/300
1942
Woodblock print
Snow in Unknown
110
Woodblock print
Snowy Morning
1942
Woodblock print
Snow at Kinkaku-ji (Kinkaku-ji no yuki)
Woodblock print
Bijin in Snow
Woodblock print
Snow at Higashiyama
Woodblock print
Snow at Kinkakuji
Woodblock print
Snow on Higashiyama (Higashiyama no yuki)
Woodblock print
Hamamatsu: Winter Scene (Hamamatsu, fuyugare no zu), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
c. 1833/34
Color woodblock print; oban
Woman in Snow (Sagi musume), Taishô period,
Woodblock print
Fuji from Mitsuhama (Mito) in Snow
Woodblock print
Snow at Miyajima
Woodblock print
Snow at Ukimido, Katata
Woodblock print
Snow on Sumida River
Woodblock print
Snow over Ukimido Shrine at Katada
Woodblock print
Animal in the Snow
Spring Snow at Maruyama, Kyoto
Woodblock print
Spring Snow at Hamacho Park in Nihonbashi (Nihonbashi-ku Hamacho koen shunsetsu) from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)"
1940
Color woodblock print; oban
Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya, (kamuro:) Shirabe, Teriha, Flowers from the series Snow, Moon and Flowers in Yoshiwara (Seiro setsugekka) (Tamaya uchi Hanamurasaki, Shirabe, Teriha)
1793
Color woodblock print; oban
No Series House In The Snowy Grip Of Winter
Woodblock print
Snow in Kashiwabara
1927
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Five Figures of Modern Beauties: Cherry Blossoms Blizzard (Gendai Bijin Fuzoku Gotai: Hana Fubuki)
1953
Woodblock print
Hanafubuki (Falling Cherry Blossoms) — 花吹雪
1953
Woodblock print
Snow-
Not set
Woodblock print
Bijin in the Snow- silk painting
Not set
Woodblock print
Woman walking in the snow at night — 雪裏の佳人
1897
Woodblock print
Ferry in Snow
Not set
Woodblock print
Canal snow
Woodblock print
After a Snowfall, Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto
Woodblock print
A village- snow — 雪の里
Woodblock print
Heron on a Snowy Night
Woodblock print
Snowy village
Woodblock print
Snow
Woodblock print
Woman in Snow
Woodblock print
A Snow Man
Woodblock print
Untitled snow scene 2
Woodblock print
Snow at -oka
Woodblock print
Snow on the Bank of Kamogawa — 加茂堤の雪
Woodblock print
A village- snow — 雪の里
Woodblock print
Snowy Day - Five-story Pagoda at Ueno
Woodblock print
Snow Scene
Woodblock print
Snowy Day
Woodblock print
Snow, 2002
Woodblock print
Rapids in Kunitachi Park in Towada in snow (Oirase)
Woodblock print
After a Snowfall, Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto
Woodblock print
Spring Snow at Jokochi- or Kamikochi
Woodblock print
Ferry in Snow at Akabane, Tokyo
Woodblock print
Approaching Snow
December 1927
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Geese at Night in Snow
c. 1928–1930
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Temple in snow
mid 20th century
Woodblock print
Ferry in Snow at Akabane, Tokyo
Woodblock print
Snowy Day
Woodblock print
Bird and flowers in snow 2
Woodblock print
Child walking through snowy field
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.