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
Crow in the Snow
Woodblock print
Snow by the Moat (Sotobori no yuki)
Woodblock print
Matsushima in Snow
Woodblock print
Winter in Jacko-in (Kyoto)
Woodblock print
Kato Kiyomasa gaining meritorious war service at Shizugatake
Woodblock print
Voice of The Moon
Woodblock print
Early Winter
Woodblock print
Winter Peony
Woodblock print
Winter 2
Woodblock print
Winter
1901
Color woodcut on paper
Three Friends of Winter
1913
Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper
Mt Asama from the rice-field
Woodblock print
Maiko (Apprentice Geisha from Kyoto)
1925
Japanese Color Woodblock Print on handmade paper
Snow Scene - Shirakawa Village
Etching and mezzotint
Rice Paddies (Ta)
1959
Color woodblock print; trial print 1/1
Woman in Snow (Fence and Plum Tree)
Woodblock print
Quiet Moment, in Winter
Drypoint etching
Shinyo Temple in Snow
Woodblock print
Sumiyoshi Shrine Snow
Woodblock print
Ice grain in the Ice Cave Svalbard
2018
Etching, aquatint
Form 77 Ice Coffin Svalbard
2022
Etching, aquatint
have a nice day
2023
Drypoint
Unknown children snow dog horse
Woodblock print
Snow scene
Woodblock print
house in the snowy grip of winter
Woodblock print
KANRO (late autumn to early winter)
Woodblock print
Heavy Snow
Woodblock print
SHIMOTSUKI (frost month - November
Woodblock print
AWAYUKI (light snow)
Woodblock print
OOHARANO AWAYUKI (the snow at Oohara)
Woodblock print
No Series Camellia In Winter
Woodblock print
Snow around Yasaka, Kyoto
Woodblock print
Butterfly Dance - Winter
1985
Zinc plate and woodblock print
The Evening in Venice
Woodblock print
Untitled snow scene
Woodblock print
First Snow of the Wasteland
Woodblock print
No Series Winter In Manchukuo Early Morning Sleighride
Woodblock print
Winter
1909
Color woodcut
A caricature of commodity prices, triptych, 1867
Woodblock print
Snowy Night
Woodblock print
Sound of the Snow
Woodblock print
Snowy Night
Woodblock print
Winter
Woodblock print
Winter in Paris (C)
Woodblock print
![Winter Moon at Toyamagahara (Fuyu no tsuki [Toyamagahara]) by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/a951222f-c337-783a-b7eb-ee91aaa1eb4a/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Winter Moon at Toyamagahara (Fuyu no tsuki [Toyamagahara])
1931
Color woodblock print; oban
Deep Winter in Aizu
mid 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Ploughing the Rice Field
Woodblock print
Winter in Aizu
1907
Color woodblock print
Winter in Aizu (11)
1967
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Winter in Aizu (Aizu no fuyu)
1938
Woodblock print
Winter in Aizu (Gobodo)
1938
Woodblock print
Winter in Giö-ji
Woodblock print
Winter in Tsuruga-jyo Aizu Wakamatsu
Woodblock print
Takada City in Snow (Niigata)
Woodblock print
Mt. Asama in Snow (Nagano)
Woodblock print
Winter in Miyama
Woodblock print
Winter in Yamazato — Fuyu no Yamazato
Woodblock print
Lattice Door
Woodblock print
Snowman
Woodblock print
Pagoda in Snow - 金閣寺 (1)
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.