Tsuchiya Koitsu – Moonlit Night at Osaka Castle

Original woodblock print. The first edition of this design was published in 1932. The current print is from an early edition.

The current print is from a very rare Tsuchiya Koitsu design. It comes in two variants, a blue one, to which the current print belongs, and a more yellow-toned one. It depicts Osaka Castle, much as it can be found today, on a moonlit night.

There is a somewhat similar design by Koitsu, published one year later by Doi Sadaichi, namely Nijo Castle at Kyoto. Even if it depicts a different castle, and is in Mitsugiri format instead of Oban, as is the case with the current print, the composition has some similarities: the viewing angle, the trees in the foreground, the clouds, and the position of the moon. That one was reprinted relatively often post-war, and a later edition can be found here.

The current design was never reprinted after the war, however, and due to its rarity, is believed to have only been published in a small first edition.

Image size (excluding margins): 25.1 * 37.4 cm (9.9 * 14.7 in).

The print is in very good state. On the back there is a note in pencil.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Tsuchiya Koitsu (1870-1949) was a Japanese woodblock print artist. He is known for his high-quality Shin hanga prints, excelling in the depiction of light and shadow and the expression of mood.

Discover more information and see an overview of Tsuchiya Koitsu’s woodblock prints.

See an overview of Tsuchiya Koitsu's woodblock prints