Hara Shobo Ukiyoe Gallery Tokyo
On my recent trip to Tokyo from Tonami City, I stumbled upon a store that specializes in authentic Ukiyoe called Hara Shobo. One thing I love and hate about Japan is you can either find or miss some amazing stores if you don’t keep your eyes peeled every second. Stumbling across Hara Shobo was pure luck and an am glad to share this Ukiyoe Gallery/shop with you.
I have seen many tourist t-shirts with Ukiyoe on them but to me they are very tacky, other products you may have seen are Noren with an Ukiyoe print on it. One Ukiyoe image you may have seen is Hokusai’s Wave, if you Google image search “Hokusai’s Wave” you will most likely remember seeing it.
Hara Shobo sells original Ukiyoe that are antique so you can actually get a piece of history for you home. The owner’s son, Toshi, speaks English so there are no communication problems and they also have a website in English. I got on their mailing list, which also sends out a magazine style full color catalog to anyone that is interested.
My favorites are Ukiyoe depicting Samurai or battles but there are a wide variety of Ukiyoe themes such as places, beauties, folktales, X-rated Shunga, Kabuki, Noh actors, everyday and religious items. Prices at Hara Shobo start at 8000 yen but when you consider that some of the pieces are hundreds of years old, paying 200,000 yen is cheap. Compare that to the price of a 200 hundred year old Western painting by a famous artist. For around 30,000 – 50,000 yen you can pick up a fantastic looking quality original and there is a large selection to choose from.
The great thing I find in Japan is art shop dealers will actually take time to answer your questions instead of just pushing for a fast sale, as they love what they do and are happy to share their knowledge. Toshi is very friendly and if your in the market for Ukiyoe, you can purchase and get them delivered anywhere in the world by Hara Shobo.
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