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
Snowy Morning, Kyoto
Lithograph
Snow Flurry
Lithograph
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Woman and Snowflakes
Not set
Woodblock print
February
Painting
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
No. 153 - Thatched Roof in the Snow
Silkscreen (serigraph)
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Tenno-Ji in the Sno
Woodblock print
Frosty Morning
Woodblock print
Mount Hakkoda
Woodblock print
Untitled (takashi-henmi)
Woodblock print
MIBORO-NO-MINKA (One's House)
Woodblock print
Myokozan in Sunset
Woodblock print
Woodblock Print
Color woodblock print
December — 其十二 ゆき見
1898
Woodblock print
Kuta no Yuki
Woodblock print
Untitled (hiyoshi-mamoru)
Woodblock print
Snowy Night
1923
Woodblock print
Snow at Kinkaku-ji
Woodblock print
Bridge with Snow
Woodblock print
Snow Scene
Woodblock print
Persimmon in Snow
Woodblock print
Miyajima in the Snow
Woodblock print
Camellias and Sparrows in Falling Snow
Woodblock print
Snow White Mountain (Xuebai shanqiu)
1998
Woodcut printed with water-soluble ink
A Snowy Day
1901
Color woodcut on paper
Boats in the Snow
1878
Silk
Snow at Akama Gate
1936
Japanese Color Woodblock Print
Persimmons In The Snow
2021
Woodblock
It Looks Like Snow
1927
Woodblock Print
Snow Day
1928
Woodblock Print
Koshihata Snow
1974
Woodblock
Spring Snow at Kamikochi
1932
Woodblock Print
Violent Battle in Snow near Niuzhuang
1895
Triptych of color woodblock prints
snow
1960
Etching
Egrets in the Snow
1927
Japanese Color Woodblock Print
Kanjuji In Snow
2009
Woodblock
Portland Japanese Garden In the Snow
2017
Woodblock
Photo Respiration – In the Snow Nikko #5
2001
Archival pigment print
Snow (Yuki)
1929
Woodblock Print
Snow (Yuki)
1929
Woodblock Print
Yuki (Snow)
1929
Japanese Color Woodblock Print on handmade paper
Snow at Katata Ukimido
1934
Woodblock Print
Spring Snow, Kyoto Maruyama
1936
Woodblock Print
The Snow Woman (Yuki Onna)
1922
Woodblock print on paper
Boats transporting rice on the Sumida River
c. 1800/05
Color woodblock print; nagaban, surimono
Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara
1799
Surimono; color woodblock print
The Monkey Bridge in Winter
Mid-19th century
Woodblock print; hashira-e
Asakusa Rice Field during the Cock Festival
Woodblock print
Bikuni Bridge in Snow (Bikunibashi setchu), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
Color woodblock print
Bijin and Peony in Mid-Winter - 寒牡丹美人娘図
Woodblock print
Takasegawa-Winter
1990
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Unknown- Temple and Snow
Woodblock print
Author of Ice Isle (Hyötö): Portrait of Hagiwara Sakutarö
Woodblock print
A Canal in Venice
1925
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 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.