{"id":318468,"date":"2026-02-26T15:01:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/318468\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:01:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:01:26","slug":"a-landmark-exhibition-of-ukiyo-e-prints-from-the-19th-and-20th-centuries-is-on-show-now-in-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/318468\/","title":{"rendered":"A landmark exhibition of ukiyo-e prints from the 19th and 20th centuries is on show now in Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the world-famous work of artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige, ukiyo-e woodblock prints are typically considered an art form distinctive to the Edo period (1603\u20131868) \u2013 the age of shoguns and samurai, the quintessential \u2018old Japan\u2019.<\/p>\n

But ukiyo-e did not end with the fall of warrior rule. Instead, the medium evolved in fascinating directions between the late 19th and early 20th century, when Japanese printmakers produced a remarkable oeuvre of works greatly influenced by their country\u2019s sudden turn towards modernity.<\/p>\n

Some of the greatest masterpieces of this period can be viewed now at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Marunouchi, where an exhibition titled \u2018From Kiyochika to Hasui: Ukiyo-e and Shin-Hanga Woodblock Prints from the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Asian Art<\/a>\u2019 is showing until May 24.<\/p>\n

Built around some 130 prints, most of them borrowed from the renowned Robert O Muller Collection at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington DC, the display explores a pivotal moment in Japanese visual culture: the twilight of ukiyo-e and its reinvention as shin-hanga.<\/p>\n

At its heart lies a tale of transformation; a story of how traditional woodblock printing adapted to photography, modernisation and global exchange at a dramatic juncture in Japanese history.<\/p>\n

Kiyochika Kobayashi and the light of a vanishing Edo
\n\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

The exhibition opens with the work of Kiyochika Kobayashi (1847\u20131915), who is often called \u2018the last ukiyo-e artist\u2019. A samurai who witnessed the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, Kiyochika, as he was known, turned to printmaking soon after that. In 1876, his series Famous Places of Tokyo introduced a radically new sensibility to the artform.<\/p>\n

Nicknamed kosenga, or \u2018light ray pictures\u2019, his prints are defined by dramatic contrasts of shadow and illumination. Gas lamps glow in misty streets, bridges dissolve into twilight and snow muffles the city\u2019s new brick facades. While many contemporary prints celebrated Westernisation in bright \u2018red prints\u2019 (aka-e), Kiyochika\u2019s works linger in dusk. They evoke nostalgia for a disappearing Edo (as Tokyo was known prior to 1868), even as they document Tokyo\u2019s modernisation.<\/p>\n

\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

Photography, newly introduced to Japan, played a subtle but crucial role in Kiyochika\u2019s practice. The technology\u2019s emphasis on light and realism influenced printmakers, while simultaneously threatening the commercial viability of woodblock printing. Kiyochika\u2019s atmospheric night scenes stand at this crossroads, absorbing photographic perception into traditional technique.<\/p>\n

Photography and the crisis of ukiyo-e<\/p>\n

By the late 19th century, photography had begun to eclipse ukiyo-e as the preferred medium for visual reportage, eroding the status that woodblock prints had held for centuries in Japan. War scenes that once required teams of carvers and printers could now be captured instantly by camera. At the same time, Western collectors fuelled the export of Edo-period masterpieces, draining Japan of its finest works.<\/p>\n

\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

The exhibition delves into this context by displaying historical photographs alongside prints, revealing a dynamic exchange rather than simple replacement. Photography introduced new compositional strategies and tonal subtleties. Print artists responded with experimentation, pushing colour gradation and atmospheric effects to new heights. Rather than depicting a sudden collapse, the exhibition suggests a gradual \u2018twilight\u2019 of ukiyo-e \u2013 a fading glow that would ultimately give rise to renewal.<\/p>\n

The birth of shin-hanga<\/p>\n

That renewal took shape in the early 20th century with shin-hanga, or \u2018new prints\u2019. Central to this revival was the publisher Shozaburo Watanabe, who sought to preserve the collaborative woodblock printing system \u2013 artist, carver, printer and publisher, all working toward a shared goal \u2013 while adapting its aesthetics to appeal to modern audiences.<\/p>\n

\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

Cognisant of international demand and interest, Watanabe positioned shin-hanga as a practice of both tradition and innovation. He worked with Japanese painters trained in both domestic and Western styles, as well as foreign artists such as Charles William Bartlett. Early experiments by artists like Shotei Takahashi laid the groundwork, producing atmospheric landscapes that retained an Edo-era mood while appealing to foreign tastes. Shin-hanga was a calculated reinvention: technically refined, globally oriented and consciously modern.<\/p>\n

Hiroshi Yoshida and Hasui Kawase: landscapes for a global age<\/p>\n

Among the shin-hanga movement\u2019s most celebrated figures are Hiroshi Yoshida and Hasui Kawase. Yoshida, originally trained as a Western-style painter, brought a cosmopolitan outlook shaped by international travel. His meticulously crafted prints, often self-produced after establishing his own workshop, present Japan\u2019s landscapes with luminous clarity and technical precision.<\/p>\n

\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

Kawase, by contrast, became synonymous with poetic atmosphere. Encouraged by Watanabe, he travelled widely across Japan, sketching on site rather than relying solely on famous-place conventions. His snow-laden temples, rain-swept bridges and quiet provincial towns extend Kiyochika\u2019s fascination with mood and light into the 20th century. Revered abroad, his collectors have included figures as unexpected as Steve Jobs, and Hasui\u2019s work eventually regained acclaim at home as well.<\/p>\n

\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

Together, these artists demonstrate how shin-hanga reimagined landscape as both national memory and international export.<\/p>\n

A landmark international loan<\/p>\n

The exhibition is anchored by the Robert O Muller Collection, assembled over six decades and regarded as one of the world\u2019s finest holdings of shin-hanga. Around 90 of the prints on display are from Washington, while the rest come from the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum\u2019s collection. As such, the presentation marks the Smithsonian\u2019s largest-ever outgoing loan of ukiyo-e.<\/p>\n

\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

The setting adds resonance. The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, housed in a reconstruction of a late-19th-century Western-style building, echoes the era in which Japan took its first steps toward modernity and global exchange.<\/p>\n

\u2018From Kiyochika to Hasui\u2019 reframes a familiar narrative. Ukiyo-e did not simply vanish under the glare of modernisation. Instead, it entered a period of twilight, absorbing new technologies, responding to international trends, and evolving into shin-hanga.<\/p>\n

\"From
\nPhoto: S\u00e9bastien Raineri <\/p>\n

Through luminous night scenes, depictions of snowbound temples and dramatically captured rain-darkened streets, the exhibition celebrates a lineage of artists who transformed loss into innovation.<\/p>\n

\u2018From Kiyochika to Hasui: Ukiyo-e and Shin-Hanga Woodblock Prints from the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Asian Art<\/a>\u2019 is on at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo<\/a> until May 24. The exhibition is closed on most Mondays.<\/p>\n

More from Time Out Tokyo<\/p>\n

Here’s the official Japan cherry blossom forecast for 2026 \u2013 updated Feb 19<\/a><\/p>\n

Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi is re-opening this April \u2013 reservations are now available<\/a><\/p>\n

Calling all the monsters: Kawaii Monster is back in Harajuku<\/a><\/p>\n

The world’s largest immersive Pixar exhibition is coming to Tokyo in March<\/a><\/p>\n

The stunning Dior Bamboo Pavilion in Daikayama is now open<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know what\u2019s cool in Tokyo?\u00a0Sign up to our newsletter\u00a0for the latest updates from Tokyo and Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thanks to the world-famous work of artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige, ukiyo-e woodblock prints are typically considered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[2273,307,304,305,306,26147,308,93,61,60,26148],"class_list":{"0":"post-318468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-art","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-categories-art","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-news-art"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}