Sosaku Hanga - Artists (2025)

Artists of the Japanese sosaku hanga art movement thrived for a reinvention of Japanese printmaking influenced by Western ideas of fine art. The sosaku hanga artists broke with the past, discarding the old tradition of Japanese printmaking and embraced Western concepts of creativity and modern art styles that they had encountered during their art studies in Europe.

Sosaku Hanga - Embracing a Western Art Philosophy

Around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, the traditional craft of Japanese woodblock printmaking, known as ukiyo-e, faced decline. The original purpose of copying text (books) and images by carving wooden blocks had been supplanted by photography, lithography, and other modern printing methods.

In the late nineteenth century, young Japanese students were sent abroad by the administration of the Meiji government to study Western science, engineering, administration, military, and also Western art. Japanese students attended art academies in Paris, Rome, or Berlin, where they were exposed to the development of modern Western art including impressionism and expressionism. Additionally, they discovered that prints were regarded as fine art in Western societies, while ukiyo-e was considered a mass medium in Japan produced by artisans.

Self-Design, Self-Carve, Self-Print: The Essence of Sosaku Hanga

Upon returning home, these young artists conceived the concept of sosaku hanga, meaning "creative prints." They believed that true art could only be achieved if the artist completed the entire process of creating a woodblock print: drawing, carving the block, and printing. In traditional ukiyo-e, the artist was solely responsible for the design/drawing, while the carving and printing were carried out by highly skilled and specialized professional artisans. Furthermore, the entire process was typically overseen by a print publisher whose primary concern was commercial success.

Oliver Statler

Sosaku Hanga emerged around 1909, yet before World War II, it garnered little attention from the public, neither in Japan nor abroad. However, this changed after the war, particularly with the presence of American soldiers stationed in Japan, who developed a keen interest in contemporary Japanese printmaking. One individual, Oliver Statler, played a pivotal role in promoting Japanese prints post-1945.

The Distinguished Sosaku Hanga Artists

The following list includes some prominent artists of the sosaku hanga movement (we apologize for any omissions). The number of sosaku hanga artists far surpasses those associated with the shin hanga art movement.

Many of these sosaku hanga artists pursued woodblock printing as a secondary occupation. Unable to sustain themselves solely through sosaku hanga, they often held other professions, such as Sumio Kawakami, who worked as an English teacher.

• Fumio Kitaoka - 1918-2007.
• Gen Yamaguchi - 1896-1976.
• Gihachiro Okuyama - 1907-1981.
• Hakutei ISHII - 1882-1958.
• Hideo Hagiwara - 1913-2007.
• Hide Kawanishi - 1894-1965.
• Hiromitsu Nakazawa - 1874-1964.
• Joichi Hoshi - 1913-1979.
• Kanae Yamamoto - 1882-1946.
• Kishio Koizumi - 1893-1945.
• Kiyoshi Saito - 1907-1997.
• Koshiro Onchi - 1891-1955.
• Masao Maeda - 1904-1974.
• Okiie Hashimoto - 1899-1993.
• Sadao Watanabe - 1913-1996.
• Junichiro Sekino - 1914-1988.
• Senpan Maekawa - 1888-1960.
• Shiko Munakata - 1903-1975.
• Sumio Kawakami - 1895-1972.
• Tadashige Ono - 1909-1990.
• Tomikichiro Tokuriki - 1902-1999, produced significantly more shin hanga prints but remained devoted to sosaku Hanga.
• Tomoo Inagaki - 1902-1980.
• Umetaro Azechi - 1902-1999.
• Unichi Hiratsuka - 1895-1997.
• Yoshitoshi Mori - 1898-1992.

Recommended Reading

• Helen Merritt, "Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints - The Early Years", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1990, ISBN 0-8248-1200-X.
• Oliver Statler, "Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn", C. Tuttle, Tokyo, 1956, ISBN: 0-8048-0406-0.

Woodblock Prints by Sosaku Hanga Artists

Here are a few examples of works by leading sosaku hanga artists. These images are sourced from our archive of sold Japanese prints.

Author:
Dieter Wanczura, revised by AI
First Publication: 6/13/2009
Latest Update: 2/11/2024

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