Why Harunobu
Around 1765, a craze for elaborate, privately commissioned calendar prints among wealthy Edo connoisseurs bankrolled the first precise multi-block colour printing. Suzuki Harunobu was its central hand. The result — nishiki-e, or “brocade prints” — gave ukiyo-e its first true full colour, and Harunobu’s slender, weightless figures and layered classical allusions defined the look of the moment.
His prints work on two levels at once: a charming contemporary scene on the surface, and underneath a mitate — a sly transposition of a classical poem, legend or landscape into the present day. These reproductions carry that invention to paper you can hang.
Three ways to own a print
Giclée on cotton rag
Open-edition reproduction on 310gsm museum rag. Not an original impression.
from $45Fine-art reprint on washi
Printed on Japanese mulberry paper. Open-edition reproduction.
$95Woodblock replica · fukkoku
Hand-pulled from re-carved cherry blocks by a partner studio. Limited edition; not an original Edo-period print.
$480Honest about what these are
Suzuki Harunobu died in 1770; his work is long out of copyright and in the public domain. The images we print are reproduced from public-domain (CC0 / PD) scans shared via Wikimedia Commons, originating from museum open-access collections.
Everything sold here is an open-edition reproduction. It is not an original Edo-period impression, and we claim no museum endorsement. Woodblock replicas (fukkoku) are newly hand-pulled from re-carved blocks by a partner studio and are described as such.
Ordering & payment
Add the plates you’d like to your cart, choose a format and size, and place your order with your name, email and shipping address. Nothing is charged on the site. We review the order, confirm availability — woodblock replicas are made to order over several weeks — and email you to arrange payment by bank transfer or invoice, along with delivery details.