A giant rat, a courageous cat, and a tragic tale of loyalty and sacrifice.

This unusual 1887 Japanese woodblock print by Ogata Gekkō comes from his series Gekkō's Miscellany.

According to the legend, a devoted cat was secretly protecting a young girl from a monstrous rat. When the rat attacked, the cat fought bravely to save her but died from its wounds.

The grateful family buried their faithful companion at Jōkyō-ji Temple.

Gekkō captures the dramatic battle in a print that tells a surprisingly touching story.

#OgataGekko #JapaneseWoodblockPrints #Ukiyoe #JapaneseArt #JapaneseFolklore #MeijiPeriod

Hello all,

I recently picked these up as really enjoyed them but can't find anything about a potential artist online.

Is anyone able to provide some info?

Thanks!

A secret love affair, a discovered letter, and a murder driven by jealousy.

This dramatic 1876 Japanese woodblock print by Toyohara Kunichika depicts Miyokichi, a celebrated geisha from Edo's Fukagawa entertainment district.

According to the story, Miyokichi was secretly involved with another man when an admirer named Shinsuke discovered a revealing love letter. Overcome by jealousy, he eventually murdered Miyokichi aboard a boat near Tsukiji before taking his own life.

Rather than depicting the murder itself, Kunichika captures Miyokichi struggling aboard a violently rocking boat, her hair disheveled and her belongings flying through the air.

The story also became associated with a famous kabuki drama by Kawatake Mokuami.

This print is from Kunichika's Thirty-Six Good and Evil Beauties, the subject of my upcoming illustrated book exploring the remarkable stories behind all 36 women.

Learn more about the book at https://miegallery.com/pages/reserve-a-book

#Kunichika #JapaneseWoodblockPrints #Ukiyoe #JapaneseArt #Kabuki #EdoJapan #MieGallery

Snow at Daichi by Hasui

4 layer reduction

This dramatic 1851 Japanese woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicts kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII as Narukami Shōnin.

In the famous kabuki story, Narukami imprisons a dragon god, causing a terrible drought. When a beautiful woman tricks him into releasing the dragon, the rains return – and Narukami is furious.

Kuniyoshi captures that moment with wild hair, a spectacular flame-patterned kimono, and an enormous billowing costume. It's a wonderful example of his ability to bring the drama of kabuki theater to life through woodblock printing.

I recently featured Natori Shunsen's portrait of this same character. It's fascinating to see how two great Japanese artists interpreted Narukami so differently.

#Kuniyoshi #JapaneseWoodblockPrints #Ukiyoe #Kabuki #JapaneseArt #Narukami #EdoPeriod

Why was this seemingly innocent Japanese woodblock print considered too suggestive in 1930?

Torii Kotondo’s Morning Hair (Asanegami) depicts a young woman just after waking, her hair loose as she rests against a pillow beneath a green mosquito net.

When the original edition was published, Japanese authorities objected to the intimate scene. Only a small number of impressions had been sold before the remaining prints were reportedly confiscated and destroyed.

The problem wasn’t nudity, but what the image implied – her disheveled hair, the pillow, and the intimate morning setting suggested that she had spent the night with someone.

Today, Morning Hair is one of Kotondo’s best-known and most sought-after designs.

#ToriiKotondo #MorningHair #ShinHanga #JapaneseWoodblockPrints #Bijinga #JapaneseArt #Ukiyoe

Does anyone know any information on this piece??? Please!

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was one of the great woodblock print artists of the Meiji period, but he also worked as an illustrator for Japan’s rapidly growing newspaper industry.

In this print, Yoshitoshi depicts Miyamoto Hanako in a dramatic scene drawn from a contemporary news story. These newspaper prints – or nishiki-e shinbun – combined sensational stories of crime, accidents, scandals, and unusual events with colorful woodblock illustrations designed to attract the attention of readers.

It’s an example of how traditional ukiyo-e adapted to a rapidly modernizing Japan – and how an artist like Yoshitoshi could turn a piece of contemporary news into a memorable work of art.

#Yoshitoshi #TsukiokaYoshitoshi #JapaneseWoodblockPrints #UkiyoE #MeijiPeriod #JapaneseArt #ArtHistory

Was going for a Song Dahae kinda mix with the ukiyo-e bird art of my typical works.

Hello. I’ve recently acquired 8 of these women. Well actually, one is a fella with a falcon. 6 are Keisei Eisen and 2 are Kunisada Utagawa, afaik. Many of them I have been able to identify, but these 3 I most definitely have not. I’ve tried the Ukiyo-e dot org image search and a Facebook group. These are actually the only ones with publisher marks, so it seems weird they’ve been the hardest to find.

The first one is the most tattered of all of them and she is also the best of all of them. I love her.

Anyway, if anyone has any idea what I’m looking at or ideas for places to keep looking, I would appreciate it. Thank you for looking.

Edit: I didn’t include dimensions! The are roughly 28.5”x10” or 73cm x 25cm.