Katsuyuki Nishijima - 但馬屋 (Tajimaya, Gifu)

A fabulous print by Katsuyuki Nishijima: 但馬屋 (Tajimaya, Gifu). This woodblock shows the frontage of a traditional inn or shop in Gifu, with wooden latticework, a blue- shopfront canopy, hanging noren, and three brightly coloured wagasa parasols set out along the street. Nishijima focuses on the everyday details of the building’s preserved exterior - the layered timber facade, the shop curtains, and the simple arrangement of umbrellas. ☂️🏮

• Year & Edition: 2010. 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: The title identifies the building as 但馬屋 (Tajimaya), likely a named shop, inn, or merchant house in Gifu Prefecture. Nishijima was often drawn to traditional street architecture of this kind, where noren, wooden frontage, and wagasa give the scene a distinctly regional and historical character.

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]