Katsuyuki Nishijima - 今井町の屋並 (Streetscape of Imaicho)

A fabulous print by Katsuyuki Nishijima: 今井町の屋並 (Streetscape of Imaicho). This woodblock looks along the kawara-tiled rooftops and plaster-walled buildings of 今井町 (Imaichō), capturing the close-built character of one of Japan’s best preserved historic townscapes. The long run of grey kawara tiles leads the eye through the composition, while wooden facades, white kura storehouses, and narrow lanes convey the ordered beauty of this traditional district. 🏘️

• Year & Edition: 2008. Edition of 500. Signed & titled in pencil.
• Medium: Woodblock.
• Dimensions: Sheet W: 43.50 cm × H: 31.50 cm. Image W: 37.75 cm × H: 25.75 cm.
• Condition: Studio-fresh.
• Notes: 今井町 (Imaichō), in Nara Prefecture, is known for its remarkably preserved streets of Edo-period merchant houses, 土蔵 (dozō, earthen storehouses), and traditional town architecture. Nishijima is especially drawn to places such as this, where kawara rooflines, plaster walls, and wooden buildings still define the everyday streetscape.

About the Artist

Katsuyuki Nishijima (b. 1945, Yamaguchi) has spent over fifty years capturing a distilled vision of traditional Japan through woodblock printmaking. Drawing on ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku hanga, his prints depict peaceful street scenes, machiya, and Kyoto townscapes that quietly evoke the spirit of historical Japan. A former apprentice at Kyoto’s Mikumo publishing house, Nishijima brings a deep attentiveness to the cultural memory embedded in architecture and landscape. [ ← View All Works by Katsuyuki Nishijima]