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
Sunset at the Mukojima Hyappon-Kui — 向島百本杭の夕焼
Woodblock print
Place Van Eyck
1919
Kurashiki, Okayama (B)
1965
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Toriemoto, Kyoto
1971
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Venice
Woodblock print
Imado
Woodblock print
Bandaibashi asahi hinode (Sunrise at Bandaibashi)
Woodblock print
Bookstore, Seine, Paris, Shôwa period, dated 1960
Woodblock print
Resting, Paris, Shôwa period, dated 1960
Woodblock print
Solitude, Kyoto
1955
Color woodblock print; edition 70/150
Devastation
Woodblock print
Graveyard of Sengakuji
Woodblock print
Sengaku-ji
Woodblock print
Sunflowers and Skyscrapers (Flowers and New York)
1960
Woodblock print
Takanawa Ushi-machi oborozuki-kei
Woodblock print
Untitled (takashi-henmi)
Woodblock print
Untitled (takashi-henmi)
Woodblock print
Kyoto House
Woodblock print
Outbreak of Fire Seen from Hisamatsu-cho
1881 (Meiji 14)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Meiji juyonnen nigatsu juichinichi yoru taika
Woodblock print
Ochanomizu yuki
Woodblock print
Otaru Hokkaido
1948
Color woodblock print
Untitled (takashi-henmi)
Woodblock print
Devastation
Woodblock print
Tokyo Shin-O-Hashi ame-chu zu
Woodblock print
Japan 1947: Caricature Number One
1947
Color woodblock print
#3Bar Sourire (To be Sold as a Complete Set of 6)
Woodblock print
Roofs of Florence
1959
Woodblock print
Tameike, from
Woodblock print
Nostalgia, Boston
1956
Color woodblock print; edition 7/75
Pontocho, Kyoto
Woodblock print
Ryōgoku After the Fire
1881 (Meiji 14)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Imado ariake takadone no kei
Woodblock print
Yanagiwara ya-u
Woodblock print
Gion in Kyoto (J)
1966
Color woodblock print; edition 51/100
Kyoto
Woodblock print
Honolulu
1955
Woodblock print
Untitled (takashi-henmi)
Woodblock print
Motomachi-dori ya-seki
Woodblock print
House in Kyoto (B)
Woodblock print
A Picture of Prosperity at Horidome
Woodblock print
Sunrise at Hyappongui, Ryōgoku, Tokyo
1879 (Meiji 12)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e): ink and color on paper
Zoo in Early Fall
Woodblock print
Expo '70
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Togeki
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Leaving New York
2007
Mokuhanga
Sumida Park
1930
Color woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Sleepless in Helsinki
2018
Mokuhanga
Urban Holiday
2016
Mokuhanga
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
A Job in City
Lithograph
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
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.