Gihachiro Okuyama - 白馬村 細野部落 (Hosono Hamlet, Hakuba Village)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Woodblock Print

A beautiful woodblock print by Gihachiro Okuyama: 白馬村 細野部落 (Hosono Hamlet, Hakuba Village). This winter scene looks across a snow-covered hamlet in 白馬村 (Hakuba Village), where thatched houses, bare trees, and a small group of grave markers stand before the mountain landscape beyond. Okuyama’s composition captures the quiet weight of deep winter, with dark silhouettes of trees, rooftops, and 墓石 (gravestones) set against the broad whiteness of the snow. ❄️🏔️

• Year & Edition: Circa 1960-70s. Self-printed by 奥山儀八郎自摺 (Okuyama Gihachiro jizuri). Pencil-signed and titled in margins.
• Medium: Woodblock.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 31.75 cm × W: 42.00 cm.
• Condition: Image unblemished. Paper clean & intact - handling margin edge.
• Notes: 細野部落 (Hosono Hamlet), in 白馬村 (Hakuba Village), is shown here in winter, with snow lying across the village cemetery and the surrounding houses beneath the mountain backdrop. The grave markers in the foreground give the scene a strong sense of rural continuity and place. 

About the Artist

Gihachiro Okuyama (1907-1981) moved seamlessly between sōsaku-hanga and shin-hanga, pairing self-carved monochrome impressions with vibrant collaborative colour prints. Trained by Kosaka Gajin and ukiyo-e master Ishii Kendō, he fused bold modern graphics with classical technique. After the war he founded the Japan Print Institute and his Matsudo studio; his own prints - and woodblock homages to Hiroshige and Van Gogh - now appear in major museum collections worldwide. [ ← View All Works by Gihachiro Okuyama]