Urban Scenes Prints (722)
Urban scenes document the cities and towns of Japan through the lens of woodblock printmaking, capturing architecture, street life, commercial activity, and the evolving character of Japanese urban spaces across four centuries. The genre reflects Japan's transformation from a feudal society of castle towns to one of the world's most densely urbanized nations. Edo (modern Tokyo) was the original subject of urban-scene prints, with artists like Hiroshige documenting its bridges, markets, temples, and pleasure quarters in series such as "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo." These prints served both as artistic compositions and as practical guides for residents and travelers, recording neighborhoods that would later be transformed by modernization, fire, and earthquake. The Meiji era brought dramatic new urban subjects — railway stations, brick buildings, gas lamps, and Western-dressed pedestrians — as artists documented Japan's rapid transformation. Shin-hanga artists like Hasui and Koitsu later turned to older streetscapes, capturing traditional architecture and nighttime atmospheres threatened by modernization. Their prints of temple gates, canal-side houses, and lantern-lit streets became nostalgic records of a disappearing Japan, prized today as much for their documentary value as their artistic merit.
Artists Known for Urban Scenes
Shinjuku
1938
Woodblock print
Small Town in Chūgoku District
1933
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Ueno Park
1937
Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper
Cherry Blossom Tree Kanda
20/200, 2000
Woodblock print
Tsukiji monseki / Site of the Gateway, Tsukiji / Tokyo meisho zue / Famous Places in Tokyo
1893 (1 September;printing; 5 September;published)
Woodblock print
Kanda Myojin / Tokyo meisho zue / Famous Places in Tokyo
1893 (1 September;printing; 5 September;published)
Woodblock print
The Woman Of The 7th District - 七丁目の婦人
c1970s (this item: First/Early edition)
Painting
Interior of the Kannon Temple at Asakusa (Asakusa Kannon-dô no naidô)
Japanese, Taishô era–Shôwa era, 20th century
Woodblock print
Dance Party: Enjoying Cherry Blossom Viewing at Ueno
Woodblock print
KOKOROMACHI (Kyoto Street)
Woodblock print
Old Street 13/30
Woodblock print
Splendid Old Town
Woodblock print
Nihonbashi in Early Spring — 早春の日本橋
Woodblock print
#67 Asakusa
Woodblock print
City Hall, Hibiya
Woodblock print
Ginza by Night
Woodblock print
Tsukiji fish market, from
Woodblock print
Tsukiji
Woodblock print
Snowy Day - Five-story Pagoda at Ueno
Woodblock print
Children making a Snowman in the Northeast District
Woodblock print
Morning View of the Numazu Station on Tōkaidō Road
19th century
Lithograph on paper
City Gate
1967
Etching with aquatint, ink and color on paper
Children making a Snowman in the Northeast District
Woodblock print
Nihonbashi #1
Woodblock print
![Title unknown [Town with tile-roofed buildings] by Kihei Sasajima](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135544.jpg)
Title unknown [Town with tile-roofed buildings]
1968
Woodblock print, ink on paper with embossing
Snow at Kiyomizu Hall, Ueno (Ueno Kiyomizudo no yuki)
Ueno Kiyomizudo no yuki
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
rainy city street
Woodblock print
Tokyo Nihonbashi Bridge — 東京日本橋
Woodblock print
Tokyo Station
Woodblock print
Unknown, Rainy Street Scene
Woodblock print
Unknown, snowy street
Woodblock print
Cherry Blossoms at Ueno
上野の桜
c. 1925
Color woodblock print
Night at Nihonbashi
日本橋の夜
c. 1920
Color woodblock print
In the station
1959
Evening at Ueno Park
上野公園の夕
1934
Woodblock print
Promontory above a European city
Woodblock print
Great Lantern at Asakusa Kannon Temple
浅草観音堂大提灯
1934
Color woodblock print
Town (Machi), Shôwa period, dated 1960
Woodblock print
West Shinjuku in the morning
Woodblock print
Spring Evening at Tokyo Ueno Park
東京上野公園 春の夕
1948
Color woodblock print
Tokyo Station
Woodblock print
Ueno Toshogu Shrine
上野東照宮
1953
Woodblock print
Street Scene, Motomachi, Kobe
Woodblock print
Bijin at Nihonbashi — 日本橋美人
Not set
Woodblock print
Asakusa Scene
1962
Stencil print (kappazuri), ink and color on paper
Ueno Scene
1967
Stencil print (kappazuri), ink and color on paper
#69 Theatre at Asakusa
Woodblock print
Industrial District in Honjo, from the series Recollections of Tokyo
1945
Color woodblock print
Sand City
Woodblock print
Night View of Shinjuku, from the series Recollections of Tokyo
1945
Color woodblock print
Shinjnku no yo (Night of Shinjuku) / Tokyo kaiko zue (Scenes of Last Tokyo)
Woodblock print
#98 tsukiji fish market
Woodblock print
Evening Glow over Asakusa Bridge
Woodblock print
Matsuda in the Kyobashi District
Woodblock print
Streetcars at Ueno Sanashi
Woodblock print
![[Toshagu Shrine, Ueno] by Inoue Yasuji](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/famsf/images/3306201405530048.jpg)
[Toshagu Shrine, Ueno]
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Asakusa Hirokoji Broadway
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Distant View of Tsukiji-monzeki Temple
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Evening View of Asakusa Park
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Higashi-monzeki Temple, Asakusa
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Urban scenes document the cities and towns of Japan through the lens of woodblock printmaking, capturing architecture, street life, commercial activity, and the evolving character of Japanese urban spaces across four centuries. The genre reflects Japan's transformation from a feudal society of castle towns to one of the world's most densely urbanized nations.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Inoue Yasuji, and Oda Kazuma are among the artists most associated with urban scenes in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 722 prints tagged with urban scenes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.