花原淳子 Junko Hanahara (1958-Present)

Everyday Gatherings: Junko Hanahara’s Osaka Izakaya Scenes

Born and raised in Osaka, Junko Hanahara captures the city’s shared moments in woodblock prints. Her subjects are drawn from the city’s izakaya: people stopping for a drink after work, standing bars already busy while daylight lingers, and the easy familiarity between shop owners and regular customers. Shaped by everyday routine rather than spectacle, these scenes capture the warm, understated social fabric of Osaka life.

Hanahara’s focus on ordinary gatherings carries quiet weight. Living through the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, and the isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic sharpened her awareness of how easily everyday scenes can disappear. In response, her work affirms the value of small, shared moments - talking, laughing, and spending time together in familiar places - and expresses a simple wish that these connections will continue tomorrow and beyond.

Working in the traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock method, Hanahara builds colour through multiple layers of printing, often using ten or more blocks for a single image. She works mainly with sumi ink and transparent watercolours, occasionally incorporating opaque pigments or oil-based inks, and draws directly from the bustle of everyday life rather than relying on photographs. Regularly selected for exhibitions of the Japan Print Association - becoming a full member in 2024 - her work has been presented in a growing number of solo and group exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, alongside further selections by the College Women’s Association of Japan (CWAJ).