Osaka UKIYOE Museum opened in the Shinsaibashisuji Shopping Arcade in Osaka in July 2019. At our museum, you can take a close look at the ukiyo-e woodblock prints that Japan boasts to the world.
The ukiyo-e is said to have originated in the form of portraying the common people’s lives in Kyoto in the second half of the 16th century, and was in fashion and spread as a popular culture in Edo (now Tokyo) in the 18th century. The museum displays many ukiyo-e woodblock prints by four great masters including Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, Kitagawa Utamaro and Toshusai Sharaku as well as ukiyo-e prints related to Osaka and Kyoto. Please enjoy the “now” of the Edo period, elaborately created by ukiyo-e artists and “nameless carvers and printers”.