Jumping Koi/Carp. Paited with ink on silk. Signed Eishuku Ujinobu and sealed. It is attributed to Kano Eishuku(Ujinobu).

There is a waterfall legend about “The Dragon Gate": thousands of koi fishes tried to jump to the waterfall for hundreds of years but failed, and after sometime passed one koi determined to reach the top of the waterfall and finally made it to the top. The Gods rewarded the koi by turning him into a beautiful, shiny, Golden Dragon...

The sage gazes out from his hermitage clinging to the hillside upon a sparse scene of falling water and precipitous climbing peaks dominating this painting by Shirakura Niho dating from the prime of his career. Ink and light color on silk mounted in blue cloth with thin piping terminating in white ceramic rollers. It is 40.5 x 187.5 (16 x 74 inches) and is in excellent condition; enclosed in a modern wooden storage box. A published version of the Niho Catalog will accompany the work...

A quintessential image of a tiny bean-shaped figure lost in thought, perhaps staring out to sea on a sunny hillock before cascading water in lush Spring-green washes by Shirakura Niho enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Enpokihan (Distant Sails Returning). Ink & Light color on Silk in fresh green extended with beige featuring bone rollers. It is 64 x 143.5 cm (25 x 56-1/2 inches) and is in overall excellent condition...

This scroll is an excellent example of the early Showa era style of Shirakura Niho centering around 1930 enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Teishu Sotai. The painting features two persons in a boat contemplating a precipitous waterfall which extends up through the clouds. The phrase Teishu Sotai in old Japanese translates to "meeting of moored boats" in English...

A peaceful cluster of homes blanketed in snow by Shirakura Niho enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kamo Sekkei (Kamo in Snow). This is likely an image from very close to the artists heart, he lived west of the Kamo River in Kyoto, and one can imagine this being one of the bridges spanning that river he has seen out on a winter day. Ink,Gofun & Light color on Silk bordered in light colored cloth...

A lonely figure walks home through the forested hills, a rustic scene by Shirakura Kanyu (Niho) from his mature period distinctly blending his early years of training in watercolor under Ishii Hakutei with his later Nanga years. Ink and light color on silk in a superb silk border with solid ivory rollers (these will be changed if exporting). It comes in the original signed double wood box titled Kisho (returning home) and is in excellent condition...

Bird and flower painting depicted a Japanese bush warbler rests in plum blossom tree. Painted with ink on silk. Signed and sealed.

Matsumura Keibun(1779-1843) was a Japanese painter active during the late Edo period(1603-1868). He was a leading figure in the Shijo school established by his half-brother, Matsumura Goshun (1752-1811). Keibun mastered the techniques of painting taught at Goshun’s studio at Shijo-Sakaimachi in Kyoto...

Inkwash painting depicts a long tailed fowl rests in the plum blossom tree. Painted with ink on silk. Signed Tanyu and sealed. It is a great antique piece of Kano school Paintings.

The Kano school is a group of painters who produced fusuma (sliding doors) and wall paintings as official painters for the shogunate at their castles and houses. It reigned at the center of the art world for about 400 years from the Muromachi(1338-1573) to the Edo period(1603-1868)...

This scene may have been depicted from a national treasure “Hikone Byobu six panel folding screen”. The screen has been collected by the Hikone castle museum located in Shiga prefecture in Japan. The screen has been very well known for not only the quality but also as a representative masterpiece depicting the custom of the early Edo period showing early-modern Japanese history. In this painting depicts a young robust courtesan with her western puppy...

Unique Zen ink wash painting depicts scroll and bamboo broom representing Kanzan and Jittoku. Kanzan and Jittoku were Zen eccentric monks thought to have lived at a monastery on Mt. Tendai in China during the Tang period (618-907)...

Antique Japanese hanging silk scroll from the 19th century, Meiji 1868-1912. There is a beautiful scene of a courtesan and pair of Kamuro order, attendants, walking under a blossoming cherry blossom tree. The screen is signed by Koryusai with seal. It measures 18.25" wide by 24.5" long.

Antique Japanese zenga scroll painting of Bodhidharma, with calligraphy most likely done by multiple people, with artist chops. Date reads "7th year of Taisho" (1912-1925) circa 1918 Size: 79.5" L x 26" W (entire scroll) 52" L x 18" W (painting only)

Antique Japanese scroll painting of the wrathful guardian deity Fudo Myo-O standing along the edge of a cliff. His two fangs poke out of his mouth pointing in opposite directions. The sword he wields is named Kurikara, the demon slayer. The rope he holds in his opposite hand is used to bind demons. A ring of purifying flames burns around his backside. Artist chop in corner. 18th Century Size: (Entire scroll) 67.5" H x 20.5" W (painting only) 37.5" H x 15.5" W

Antique Japanese fan painting of a single bat in sumi-e ink on paper. Signed by the artist. The painting is 18th century, later mounted as a scroll. The surface of the painting is very unusual and has a slight opalescent quality.
Size of scroll: 48" high x 24" wide (26" wide including scroll ends). Size of fan painting: 9" high x 19" wide.

Here in Kyoto our gallery is located along the Kamo River in a district known as Shobu-en Machi, which roughly translates as “Iris Town.” As you can imagine, the scene depicted in this painting of irises and cranes is one that can be commonly witnessed in our neighborhood in the spring (May) when these flowers are in full bloom. Close inspection of the painting shows one crane amusing itself in the swirling eddies created by rocks on the river bed, while another lifts its head to admire the ...

Though ripe with interpretative meaning, waterfalls are often associated with the ideas of unharnessed elemental motion and change, purification and cleansing, and journeys into the fantastical or unknown. The title of this work is 水墨水 (suiboku sui) or Water in Indian Ink.

A former councilor of the prestigious Nitten Exhibition and one of the leaders of the Japanese painting movement from the 1980s onward, Genjin Sugihara (1912 - 2009) was best known for powerful landscapes su...

A young Maiko parts the curtains of an Okiya Tea-house entrance, perhaps on her way to training, or to begin a night of traditional entertainment through song and dance. Pigment and ink on silk in a fine brocade border with lacquered red wooden rollers. It is 25 x 78 inches (63.5 x 198 cm). There is some loss to the gofun in the center where it was obviously folded once before being mounted in its current state.

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a rugged mountain landscape. A house is nestled between trees and rock formations. A tiny figure in the lower mid-left climbs toward the house. Tanaka Hakuin (1866 - 1934) Hakuin was born in Suruga Province (present Shizuoka Prefecture) in 1866. His real given name was Keizaburo. Hakuin is a pseudonym. In 1883, when he was 17 years old, he went to Kyoto and became a disciple of Tanomura Chokunyu, master Nanga style painter. Hakuin was good at painting...