Gihachiro Okuyama - 苗代 (Seedbed)

Gihachiro Okuyama’s mid-century Woodblock “苗代 (Seedbed)” centers on a farmer pushing a wheelbarrow heaped with rice shoots (稲苗, inanae) ready for transplant into flooded paddies. Her layered attire - a patterned apron and traditional headscarf - shields her from the sun, while in the distance fellow workers bend over the watery fields. Okuyama’s precise line work and gentle tonal gradations celebrate the cycles of planting and harvest that sustain Japan’s agrarian communities. 🌱🚜

• Year & Edition: Circa 1960-70s. Self-printed 奥山儀八郎自摺 (Okuyama Gihachiro jizuri); signed & titled in pencil to margins; artist seal lower right.
• Medium: Woodblock.
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 48.50 cm × W: 24.25 cm.
• Condition: Excellent; image mint with a small crease at the lower edge.
• Notes: Okuyama’s “Seedbed” pays homage to the essential ritual of rice planting, depicting 稲苗 (inanae) that will become Japan’s staple crop. The farmer’s layered garments reflect regional farming attire designed for long hours under the sun, and the distant figures underscore the communal effort of transplanting. This rare, larger-sized pencil-signed edition captures both the quiet dignity of fieldwork and the timeless rhythm of rural life.