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
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Nakanoshima
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (ishiwata-koitsu)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Rome
Not set
Woodblock print
Untitled (kazuma-oda)
Woodblock print
Montmartre
1974
Woodblock print
Matchiyama / Tokyo meisho zue (Famous Places in Tokyo)
1893 (1 September;printing; 5 September;published)
Woodblock print
Bushu Yokohama Gankiro 武州横浜岩亀楼 / Shokoku meisho hyakkei 諸国名所百景
Woodblock print
Dokan yamashita
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The Great Fire at Ryogoku from the Hamacho Riverbank
Woodblock print
Susaki
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Woolen Textile Factory, Senju
Woodblock print
All day
Woodblock print
YURAGU (Swing)
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Yaomatsu Restaurant, Koume
Woodblock print
Change to the Taisho Era (1912)
Woodblock print
HAREMA (Interval of Clear Weather)
Woodblock print
Nishijin
Woodblock print
KUNPU (Balmy Wind)
Woodblock print
Koume, from
Woodblock print
Reinanzaka
Woodblock print
GYOUN (Moving Cloud)
Woodblock print
MATSUNOUCHI
Woodblock print
SAWAYAKA (Refreshing)
Woodblock print
Red Lanterns
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Below Dokanyama Hill
Woodblock print
#84 Kagurazaka
Woodblock print
Spot light
Woodblock print
House of Level Twelve in Gion
Woodblock print
TANBI (Short Day)
Woodblock print
Koraku-en / Koraku-en Park / Tokyo meisho zue / Famous Places in Tokyo
1893 (1 September;printing; 5 September;published)
Woodblock print
A Row of Houses in Nishijin, Kyoto
Woodblock print
Houses in Hacho
Woodblock print
KAZE-NO-IRO (Sound of Wind)
Woodblock print
KATASHIGURE (It rains off and on)
Woodblock print
Sendai Moat, Fukagawa, from
Woodblock print
Ito Nisaburo
Not set
Woodblock print
February
Woodblock print
Hanamikoji St., Kyoto
Woodblock print
SAGA-No-MACHIYA (Old house in Saga)
Woodblock print
Inoue Yasuji
Woodblock print
RAKUBI (Setting Sun)
Woodblock print
HIZASHI (Sunlight)
Woodblock print
Sumiya restaurant
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: Ariakero Restaurant, Imado
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The General Staff Office, Sakurada
Woodblock print
True Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo: The Nakasu Sandbar
Woodblock print
Hijiribashi
Woodblock print
Untitled (takashi-henmi)
Woodblock print
Unknown, House scene 2
Woodblock print
Havana in 1954
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.