Welcome to Nihon no hanga

“The wood-block print shows the artist’s true value: his skill as well as his shortcomings, his successes as well as his failures in the work. ”

Yoshida Hiroshi, 1939

Located in a 17th century canal house with Amsterdam School elements, Nihon no hanga is a private museum dedicated to showcase exhibitions created around a collection of 20th century Japanese prints, collected over 30 years by Elise Wessels. During our opening months in May and November, visitors are invited to join guided tours and other events in our stunning museum.

Nihon no hanga collaborates with specialists and museums around the world and our exhibitions have been received favorably by international audiences. The museum strives to further the understanding of modern and contemporary Japanese woodblock prints.

Exhibition postponed

‘Snow Country’ exhibition postponed to November 2021

Cats in Leiden

We might be closed, but our prints can be found at Japan Museum SieboldHuis

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Ono Tadashige (1909-1990) Rooftops in Amsterdam, 1933

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A beauty lost or left in translation? As with the

A beauty lost or left in translation? As with the two previously shared prints of this series, the English and Japanese descriptions of this print differ extremely. First, the titles could not be more dissimilar: “Maid of Northern Japan” (English) versus “Round hairstyle” (Japanese). The English text pushes the notion that the North, because of its different climate and dress, is the backcountry of Japan (though according to the author there is a ‘kind of beauty’ in its primitiveness). It is quite clear the English text was not based on the description provided by Sekino himself. In his text he reminisces about the relationship with his wife – whom he often used as a model for his prints and here reimagined as a younger version of herself – and their childhood memories of the hairstyle. But Sekino also criticises that at the time (being 1946) contemporary customs were not considered ‘suitable for art’. Although he does not mention ‘who’ has said this, it is evident that the series' main concern was old and traditional customs of Japanese women. This was both to cater to the new foreign market which adored the romantic idea of ‘traditional Japan’ and at the same time feed the nostalgia for Japanese ideals of domestic consumers. The disjointed thoughts of the two descriptions raise several questions: was Sekino’s personal commentary intentionally left out of the ‘translation’? And why did the English text writer add his own interpretation and judgment of northern ‘costume’, and subsequently ignored the focus of original title and description of the print: the hairstyle?
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Sekino Jun’ichirō 関野準一郎 (1914-1988)
“Maid of Northern Japan” (輪髪: Round hairstyle)
Series: Selection of customs of Japanese women (Nihon jozoku sen 日本女俗選)
Date: August 1946
Publisher: Fugaku Honsha (Uemura Masurō)
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After being unable to open our museum in May this

After being unable to open our museum in May this year, we had hoped to open Nihon no hanga to the public this November with a snow-themed exhibition. After careful consideration we have come to the conclusion to not open the museum this November. We have decided to postpone our ‘Snow Country’ exhibition to November 2021. However, we will keep posting through our socials, to maintain your regular digital dose of modern Japanese woodblock prints!
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Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883-1957)
Spring snow at Kiyomizu temple, Kyoto (春の雪京都清水)
Publisher: Doi Hangaten
Date: 1932 (1946-55 impression)
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#nihonnohanga #japansnow #snowcountry #kiyomizudera #hasuikawase #shinhanga #museumfromhome #川瀬巴水 #雪景色 #新版画 #日本の版画 #木版画

Saitō Kiyoshi was a sōsaku hanga artist from Aiz

Saitō Kiyoshi was a sōsaku hanga artist from Aizu (modern-day Fukushima Prefecture). He is mostly known for his Winter in Aizu print series, and his love of cats. In 1946 Saitō contributed two designs to this series ‘Selection of customs of Japanese women’. Again, is it incredibly interesting to compare the English and Japanese descriptions that were released with the portfolio. The sparse English text is merely descriptive, providing none of the artist’s poetic thoughts found in the Japanese version.
English:
“Akita is a modern city in Northern Japan. In the suberbs (sic) of Akita, the Colts-foot grows taller than a man’s head. The pictur (sic) shows girls gathering Colts-foot.”
Japanese:
“Akita’s famous product is coltsfoot. In the thick wood of their extremely long greenery, the red bands of the girls slip in and out of view. The blue apron, hand coverings (tekkō) and gaiters (kyahan) are unique and sturdy garments of the North. These are the reliable clothes of working Japanese girls and women. This figure is not exclusive to Akita and the North, but when you look at the North isn’t there a certain attractively reliable and rational charm? The outfit is not extravagant, but beautiful and traditional Japanese. The beautiful Akita lass cutting coltsfoot, from different angles the big broad leaves hide and reveal her figure. These are the customs of local famous products.”
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Saitō Kiyoshi 斉藤清 (1907-1997)
Girls Cutting Colts-foot (Akita) (蕗刈る乙女)
Series: Selection of customs of Japanese women (Nihon jozoku sen 日本女俗選)
Date: August 1946
Publisher: Fugaku Shuppansha (Uemura Masuo)
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How about another complete series from our collect

How about another complete series from our collection AND more beauties? This following series was created by members of the Japan Print Association after WWII. Prolific sōsaku hanga artists Onchi Kōshirō, Maekawa Senpan, Kawanishi Hide, Sekino Jun’ichirō, and Saito Kiyoshi created designs for this portfolio of ten prints. It came with a Japanese language booklet with commentaries by the artists and a separate folder of English descriptions. After WWII many artists released prints with English captions, to give context to foreign buyers (often American soldiers). We would like to think the translations provided are faithful to the original, but they are often simplified and usually are contextual descriptions (see image above). The two texts offer interesting details that provide different perspectives on the same work. The original Japanese text by Senpan shows his criticism on the subject and provides a little more insight into his design choices:
‘Maiko are the equivalent of an apprentice geisha of the Eastern Capital. The classic value of a Kyoto maiko differs. Compared to the dynamic and reckless apprentice geisha, she is exceptionally static, docile, and doll-like in appearance. First and foremost, I feel that in extreme cases of formal dress and thick make-up, they lose their healthy complexion, which creates a porcelain-like impression. From that critical standpoint, even though it is said this is characteristic of maiko, I personally do not like this doll-like style. Therefore, I decided to redden the cheeks of her powdered appearance. That way I emphasise her childishness and innocence. Geisha already have a certain sex appeal, but a maiko still being an innocent child, makes her more lovely and cute.’
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Maekawa Senpan 前川千帆 (1880-1960)
Maiko (舞妓)
Series: Selection of customs of Japanese women (Nihon jozoku sen 日本女俗選)
Date: August 1946
Publisher: Fugaku Shuppansha (Uemura Masuo)
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Happy International Cat Day😻 Here at Nihon no h

Happy International Cat Day😻 Here at Nihon no hanga we love cats! Black ones especially, because in Japan they are thought to ward off evil. No bad luck here 😸 Many of our own favourite cat prints can still be seen at @sieboldhuis in Leiden. 'Neko. The Cat Japanese Art' features many 20th century woodblock print artists, from Takehisa Yumeji to contemporary artists like Udagawa Tamio! The exhibition is open until 13 september.
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Takahashi Hiroaki (Shōtei) 高橋弘明 (松亭) (1871–1945)
Cat (Neko 猫)
Date: c. 1930
Signature: Sanjisai Kōmei
Artist’s seal: Hiroaki
Publisher: Fusui Gabō
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Ishikawa Toraji 石川寅治 (1875–1964)
Black cat (Kuroi neko 黒い猫)
Series: Ten types of female nudes (Rajo jisshu裸女十種)
Date: 1934
Signature: Ishikawa
Artist’s seal: Tora
Publisher: Ryokūsō Gashitsu (Ishikawa Toraji)
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Udagawa Tamio 宇田川民生 (b. 1947)
To the city
Date: 2000
Signature: Tamio
Publisher: Self-published
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Takehisa Yumeji (1884-1934)
Black cat (Kuroneko 黒猫)
Series: Ten subjects of women (Onna jūdai 女十題)
Date: 1938
Signature: Yumeji (block-signed)
Artist’s seal: Shūjin sankō
Publisher: Katō Hanga Kenkyūjō (Katō Junji)
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An iconic beauty by Itō Shinsui. His successful c

An iconic beauty by Itō Shinsui. His successful career in woodblock printmaking spans nearly fifty years. Between 1916 and 1964 he designed 147 prints, many of which were published by Watanabe Shōzaburō. But the collaboration not always went smoothly. Shinsui was brutally honest about this matter, as he wrote in 1933:
‘My bijinga were clear [in intent]—in other words, they were purely commercial items . . . However, in my case I embrace the hope of creating artworks that retain a particular content, works more firmly based on subjectivity and nearly impossible to attain in the woodblock print medium . . . Because the proprietor, Mr. Watanabe, also fervently believes in the effects achieved by the outstanding prints of the past, the fact that he does not categorically approve new techniques is one reason why they cannot simply be executed now . . . In reality, there are instances when the print that appears from our brush is significantly different from our expectations. In that light, the level of excitement can decline dramatically and the interest in elements such as colour distinctions can be completely lost.’
Even if they did not always agree,Watanabe and Shinsui frequently worked together for the majority of both their careers. After Watanabe’s death in 1962, Shinsui only designed a handful of prints in commission for a watchmaker, including his last ever print, published in 1964.
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Handmirror was a favourite for poster design for the two exhibitions we created around our collection for Fondation Baur in Geneva in 2016 and Fondation Custodia in in Paris in 2018. It is interesting to see how the same print was treated very differently by the graphic designers.
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Itō Shinsui 伊東深水 (1898–1972)
Handmirror (Tekagami 手鏡)
Date: 1954
Signature: Shinsui ga
Artist’s seal: Shinsui
Publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
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Starting today! 👏 The free online course 'Visua

Starting today! 👏 The free online course 'Visualizing the Birth of Modern Tokyo' on edX will explore Tokyo through Japanese art! Koizumi Kishio's 'One hundred pictures of Great Tokyo in the Shōwa era' will also be part of this interesting course offered by MITx and Visualizing Cultures. Very exciting to see James T. Ulak will be one of the instructors, his translations of Kishio's comments were of great value to our exhibition! Check edx.org for to enroll this course for free!
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Through this course learners will investigate:
• Tokyo, through the many locations depicted at different points in time, especially helpful if they would like visit these sites today;
• the Meiji restoration and how Tokyo emerged from the earlier city of Edo to become Japan’s capital;
• cultural and political interactions between east and west;
• how Tokyo was rebuilt from various forms of destruction;
• methods used by scholars and curators of the Visualizing Cultures project and Smithsonian Institution to develop online content and exhibitions;
• the ability of visual motifs to capture tangible and intangible qualities of time and place;
• how to read image sets, especially useful in the large digital archives of today;
• woodblock print series, distribution, and competition from other media.
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#edx #japanesehistory #japanesearthistory #japaneseart #woodblockprints #japaneseprints #koizuimikishio #kobayashikiyochika #freecourse

Wouldn’t it be nice to wear such a light and bre

Wouldn’t it be nice to wear such a light and breezy summer kimono on a hot day like this? 🔥👘 This famous print is by Hirano Hakuhō, but we know little of this Kyoto-born artist. He taught himself nihonga style painting and produced a number of scroll paintings featuring beauties in sumptuous kimono. Hakuhō designed 5 prints for the great publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō between 1932-35.
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The almost translucent texture of her kimono is created by a special printing technique. Watanabe actually encouraged his artists and printers to experiment with their prints, which resulted in a technique where the printing disc (baren) is used on its side while pressure is applied in a circular motion. This leaves marks on the surface of the print, known as ‘baren sujizuri’, and is often utilised to suggest steam or texture on the kimono of this beauty.
But did you know this technique was considered a defect by printmakers not even half a century before this print was made? Visible baren marks were a sign of an inexperienced printer who had exerted too much pressure. Within traditional Japanese prints (ukiyoe) great care was taken to not show these scratches. What do you think of this ‘baren sujizuri’ technique?
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Hirano Hakuhō 平野白峰 (1879–1957)
Summer kimono (Beppu) (Natsu sugata [Beppu] 夏姿[別府])
Date: Summer 1936
Signature: Hakuhō
Artist’s seal: Hakuhō
Publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
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After one hundred urban landscapes, we feel some b

After one hundred urban landscapes, we feel some bijin (beauties) are long overdue. Last week’s poll showed an equal amount of votes for shin hanga (new prints) and sōsaku hanga (creative prints), so we will show both alternatively! But did you know these labels are actually problematic? Within 20th century Japanese prints we often label works either as shin hanga or sōsaku hanga. This rough divide helps to categorise prints either because of their style (with shin hanga distinguished by the 'fine lines' and sōsaku hanga by the 'broad strokes') or methodology (shin hanga being traditional in genre and commercially produced and sōsaku hanga as independently creative and non-commercial). However useful these labels are, they can be restrictive due to their limited definitions and are therefore far from all-inclusive! For example, Tobari Kogan’s print adheres to sōsaku hanga aesthetics, but was produced by hired block-cutters and marketed through his own association, that functioned as a commercial distribution club (hanpukai).
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Tobari Kogan 戸張弧雁 (1882-1927)
Make-up (before a tansu) (Keshō [tansu no mae] 化粧[たんすの前])
Date: 1913
Artist’s seal: Kogan
Publisher: Self-published (Kogan Shin Azuma Nishiki-e kai 孤雁新東錦絵会)
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💯! We were happy to share our complete series o

💯! We were happy to share our complete series of ‘One hundred pictures of Great Tokyo in the Shōwa era’ by sōsaku hanga artist Koizumi Kishio. Which one was your favourite? Let us know! 👇
Kishio was immensely proud of this project. He started his ‘life’s work’ in October 1928 and finished the last design in December 1937. In 1940 he released a complete set in a beautiful wooden box and wrote an accompanying introduction to the series, which truly shows the passion he had for his work:
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“My One hundred pictures of Great Tokyo in the Shōwa period are sōsaku hanga, and are carved and made with my own hands. In the fall of Shōwa 5 (1930), I realised Hiroshige made his world-famous One Hundred Views of Edo series almost a hundred years ago. With your permission, I would like to become the Hiroshige of the Shōwa era to achieve my dream of making a life's work out of one hundred landscape prints featuring Tokyo in the Shōwa period.
Even if it seemed to be somewhat economically dead during its production, it was a labour of love and a lot of effort. From the first print ten years ago, I silently and diligently worked to complete the series and continue my journey of woodblock prints.
My prints are not original paintings, and as I trade the brush for a chisel, prints are created through the synthesis of each separate impression. Therefore, not one is the same, and they are all signed by hand in pencil.
I believe Japan's dream of being a print country has faded, and at the present time it is nothing more but a thorny garden. This small work of Tokyo landscape prints is a prelude to my prayer to revive it to become a flower garden of fine printmaking. In addition, I would be extremely pleased if these works introduce Great Tokyo to a new audience.
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Autumn 1940 (2600th year of Imperial rule)
Koizumi Kishio"
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#版画 #日本の版画 #木版画

Koizumi Kishio (1893-1945) 100. Street at the stoc

Koizumi Kishio (1893-1945)
100. Street at the stock exchange in Kabuto district
1937, December
“Finances of the world are managed in this market. (Shōwa 12, 12th month)”
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#tokyostockexchange #tokyoartsandculture #nihonnohanga #koizumikishio #greattokyo #museumfromhome #100daysofart #japaneseart #japanart #gallery #onlineart #hanga #shinhanga #sosakuhanga #mokuhanga #japaninspired #japaneseartwork #japanesewoodblockprint #japaneseprint #japaneseprints #woodcut #woodcutprint #woodblockprint #artlovers #privatemuseum #museumlovers
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Koizumi Kishio (1893-1945) 99. Kanda Myōjin Shrin

Koizumi Kishio (1893-1945)
99. Kanda Myōjin Shrine
1937, November
“To the west, Sanno Shrine. To the east, Myōjin. The festivals at these shrines were once the pride of Edo. (Shōwa 12, 11th month)”
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#japaneseshrine #shintoshrine #tokyoartsandculture #nihonnohanga #koizumikishio #greattokyo #museumfromhome #100daysofart #japaneseart #japanart #gallery #onlineart #hanga #shinhanga #sosakuhanga #mokuhanga #japaninspired #japaneseartwork #japanesewoodblockprint #japaneseprint #japaneseprints #woodcut #woodcutprint #woodblockprint #artlovers #privatemuseum #museumlovers
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