Urban Scenes Prints (704)
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
Mukōjima
c. 1914–1916
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Boston Common, Shôwa period,
Woodblock print
Hara Shobō
Woodblock print
Shanghai
1920s
Color woodblock print
Kagurazaka - 神楽坂
Woodblock print
Nakanoshima, from
Woodblock print
#53 Hamacho Park
Woodblock print
Picture of a Mercantile Establishment in Yokohama, 1861
Woodblock print
Japanese Art Open Database
1933
Woodblock print
The National Diet from the Imperial Moat
19th–20th century
Woodblock print
Isarago Shiomi-zaka no zu / Toto Meisho Saka-zukushi no uchi
Woodblock print
Kofunecho-gashi, from
Woodblock print
Yanagibashi
Woodblock print
#7. Kandamyojiu
Woodblock print
New Years Lanterns, Malacca (Morning)
Woodblock print
The Art of Japan
Woodblock print
Peshawar
Not set
Woodblock print
Nagasaki Maruyama no kei 長崎丸山の景 / Shokoku Meisho Hyakkei 諸国名所百景
Woodblock print
Fujimori, Shizuo
ca. 1920
Woodblock print
Naka Sector in the Yoshiwara
Woodblock print
Kagurazaka at Ushigome
Woodblock print
Kioichou — 紀尾井町
Woodblock print
Boston Public Library
Woodblock print
Kamogawa
Woodblock print
Kasumigaseki
Woodblock print
Shibaura
c. 1914–1916
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Old State House of Boston
Woodblock print
Meiji Baseball Stadium
Woodblock print
A View at Yoyogi
Woodblock print
Hara Shobō
Woodblock print
Tsukishima
1929
Woodblock print
Shinbashi
c. 1914–1916
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Ochanomizu / Edo Meisho zue
Woodblock print
Tsukishima
Japanese, Shôwa era, 20th century
Woodblock print
Sumidagawa
1933
Woodblock print
TotalCount
1937
Woodblock print
Cincinnati II
20th century
Woodblock print; edition 32/100
Boston Public Library, Shôwa period, dated 1969
Woodblock print
Moscow
1917
Woodblock print
Susaki, from
Woodblock print
Toyoko, Horikawa, from
Woodblock print
Osaka Municipal Office
Woodblock print
Sunset at Tsukishima
Woodblock print
Kyoto Giion sairei 京都祇園祭礼 / Shokoku Meisho Hyakkei 諸国名所百景
Woodblock print
2nd Floor of the Kadoebiya Green house in the Shin-Yoshiwara
Woodblock print
Shiba Furukawa — 芝古川
Woodblock print
Ochanomizu — お茶の水
Woodblock print
Toto meisho (Famous Places of the Eastern Capital)
Woodblock print
Narazaki Eisho (Narazaki Eishô)
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print
Marunouch Tokyo
Woodblock print
Teikoku Shin-Gijido - New Imperial Diet
1932
Woodblock print
Meiji University at Surugadai — 駿河台 明治大学
Woodblock print
Pisa, Italy
Woodblock print
Taninakamura — 谷中村河童画房
Woodblock print
#5 Marunouchi Naka-dori
Woodblock print
Hibiya Park
Woodblock print
Tokyo Metro Library
Woodblock print
Remark of Shanghai
Woodblock print
Cinema
Woodblock print on paper
Unknown
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 704 prints tagged with urban scenes, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.