Japanese Woodblock Prints

Night View of Saruwaka-machi, 1856

Saruwaka-machi yoru no kei, from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo — Utagawa Hiroshige

From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Japanese prints collection · 1856

$119

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, 1856, 1 print : woodcut, color ; 33.8 x 21.8 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

In 1842 the shogunate moved all of Edo’s kabuki theatres to one street on the northern edge of the city, Saruwaka-machi, and Hiroshige’s night view of it is the most cinematic sheet in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. The theatres line both sides of the road with their drum towers and lantern signs; a full moon stands in a graded blue sky; and the last of the audience walk home along the street, their shadows thrown long and blue across the moonlit ground toward the viewer. It is the only print in the series in which shadows are drawn at all — a Western idea, used once, perfectly.

The Library of Congress impression is early, with the bokashi gradation of the night sky intact. Restored from the archive’s scan without redrawing; the scan is a little smaller than most in the set, so the print is offered at 12×18, 16×24 and 20×30.

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

Before and after

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

Night View of Saruwaka-machi, 1856: 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?

Saruwaka-machi, the street of the licensed theatres in the north of Edo, late at night under a full moon: the theatres line both sides with their signboards and towers, and the moonlight throws the long shadows of the last playgoers down the empty road toward the viewer.

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

Moon Viewing Point, 1857

Utagawa Hiroshige · Library of Congress

$119 16×24 in framed · paper from $39

Kinryuzan Temple at Asakusa, 1856

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
12×18 in	30×46 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
16×24 in	41×61 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
20×30 in	51×76 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office