Cranes and Waves, 1833 by Utagawa Hiroshige — restored vintage print print, framed

Japanese Woodblock Prints

Cranes and Waves, c. 1833

Nami ni tsuru — Utagawa Hiroshige, pillar print (hashira-e)

From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Japanese prints collection · 1833

$129

Rights & provenance record

Source scan: LOC (Prints & Photographs Division, Japanese prints).
Rights statement of the archive: “No known restrictions on publication. Ukiyo-e print by an artist who died before 1930; the impression itself was published before 1930 — public domain in the United States, Japan and the EU.”
Original print: Utagawa Hiroshige, 1833, 1 print : woodcut, color ; 37.4 x 16.5 cm.. Verified 2026-09-13.

This product is a new archival print made from a restored scan of that print. It is not an original antique and is not sold as one.

The story of this print

Alongside the landscapes Hiroshige designed hundreds of bird-and-flower prints, and the tall pillar prints among them are the ones that suit a modern wall best: made to hang on the wooden posts of a Japanese room, they are narrow, vertical and drawn to be read from a distance. This one shows two red-crowned cranes, the birds of long life, above a breaking wave — one standing on a rock in profile, the other with its wings thrown up — with a poem cut into the sky above them.

The Library of Congress impression is early, its greys and blues soft; we have kept the paper’s tone and restored the line without redrawing. The 1:2 proportion is offered at our 12×24 size, where it fits.

Printed to order on archival matte paper, framed in the country of delivery.

Before and after

Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.

Cranes and Waves, 1833: archive scan compared with the restored print

Archive scanRestored

Restoration notes

Restoration: trimmed the mount and scanner margins, balanced levels while keeping the paper tone and the flat colour blocks of the woodblock impression (85% of the original colour retained), removed dust and specks, applied gentle sharpening. Toning, wormholes, the printer's registration and the collector's seals are kept where they belong to the object; nothing is redrawn.

Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.

Questions

What does the print show?

Two red-crowned cranes — one standing on a rock, one with its wings raised — above a breaking wave, in the tall narrow format of a pillar print, with a poem cut into the top of the sheet.

Why is it so narrow?

It is a hashira-e, a pillar print, made to hang on the wooden posts of a Japanese house. The proportion is about 1 to 2, which is why it is offered at our 12×24 panoramic size — the only rectangle in our range that fits it without cropping.

Is this an original woodblock print?

No. It is a new archival print made from the Library of Congress's high-resolution scan of an original Edo-period impression in its Japanese prints collection. Original impressions of these designs sell at auction for thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars; we never sell originals, and the archive record with its rights statement is on this page.

Can this print be sold legally?

Yes. The artist died in the nineteenth century and the impression was published long before 1930, so the design is in the public domain in the United States, Japan and Europe. The Library of Congress states there are no known restrictions on publication.

Does it come framed?

Yes, if you choose a framed option: a black, white or natural oak wood frame, ready to hang, made in the country of delivery. Unframed archival matte paper and stretched canvas are also available. Sizes follow the print's own proportions — 12×18, 16×24, 20×30 and 24×36 for a standard oban sheet.

Colours vary between screens and paper. The tone you see here is a close match to the archival matte print; framed prints have no glass glare in these previews.

Pairs well with

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print

Umezawa in Sagami Province Cranes, 1832

Katsushika Hokusai · Library of Congress

$129 24×18 in framed · paper from $35

Minowa Kanasugi Mikawashima Cranes, 1857

Utagawa Hiroshige · Library of Congress

$119 16×24 in framed · paper from $39

The discount is applied automatically at checkout when two or more framed prints are in the cart.

Size	Metric	Best for
12×24 in	30×61 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
18×36 in	46×91 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom