# Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), free

> Free public-domain Japanese woodblock prints: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and more, from museum open-access collections, with sizes and CC0 licences shown.

36 images from 4 sources (Wikimedia Commons 13, Art Institute of Chicago 10, Cleveland Museum of Art 8, Library of Congress 5), updated 2026-11-03. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily.

- Same search in the browser: https://image.shep.bot/search?q=woodblock+print&category=art.drawing
- Same search over the API: `curl "https://image.shep.bot/v1/search?q=woodblock+print&category=art.drawing"`
- Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://image.shep.bot/v1/images/{id}` with an id from the table below.
- Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial use; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://image.shep.bot/docs/licences.md
- Images are never re-hosted: thumbnails, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites.

## Pictures of the floating world

Ukiyo-e, the woodblock prints of Edo-period Japan, show landscapes, actors, courtesans, travellers and waves in flat colour and bold line. Their designers (Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, Kuniyoshi) shaped Western art and design, and their prints have long been in the public domain.

These pages collect prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art, all released under CC0, with more on Wikimedia Commons.

## Using them

Flat colour and strong outlines make these prints work as posters, book covers, backgrounds and patterns, and they survive heavy cropping. Download the original for print: many museum scans show the paper's texture, which looks good at large sizes.

## Images

| ImageAsset | id | What | Source | Licence | Commercial use | Direct download |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Japanese woodblock print - triptych](https://www.loc.gov/item/2022631227/) | `loc:2022631227` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 716 × 1024, vertical, 1783 | Library of Congress | No known restrictions on publication | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Chinese woodblock print - MET CP 481 (cropped)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_481_(cropped).jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_481_(cropped).jpg` | Drawings & prints, 1156 × 1535, vertical | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 1.0 | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Print in Western Style with Western Text](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.68) | `cleveland:679096` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 9394 × 8810, 1662 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Japanese woodblock print](https://www.loc.gov/item/2022631077/) | `loc:2022631077` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 977 × 1024, square, 1814 | Library of Congress | No known restrictions on publication | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Saigo Takamori Woodblock Print Portrait by Hasegawa Sadanobu II 1877](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saigo_Takamori_Woodblock_Print_Portrait_by_Hasegawa_Sadanobu_II_1877.png) | `wikimediacommons:Saigo_Takamori_Woodblock_Print_Portrait_by_Hasegawa_Sadanobu_II_1877.png` | Drawings & prints, 1195 × 1800, vertical, 1877 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/7624) | `artic:7624` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 876 × 3888, vertical, 1795 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Mustard Garden Print](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.123) | `cleveland:679373` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 10010 × 8040, 1700 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Chinese woodblock print - MET CP 368 (cropped)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_368_(cropped).jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_368_(cropped).jpg` | Drawings & prints, 889 × 1185, vertical | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 1.0 | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Twelve Months of the Year woodblock print portfolio.] [Print for July, nude woman recumbent in field of flowers basking in rays of sun](https://www.loc.gov/item/2019647536/) | `loc:2019647536` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 770 × 1024, vertical, 1923 | Library of Congress | No known restrictions on publication | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4371) | `artic:4371` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 3000 × 2235, 1832 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Print of Xu Gate and the City Moat](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.86) | `cleveland:679114` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 9330 × 8811, 1736 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Chinese woodblock print - MET CP 415 (cropped)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_415_(cropped).jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_415_(cropped).jpg` | Drawings & prints, 916 × 1440, vertical | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 1.0 | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4368) | `artic:4368` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 3000 × 2240, 1832 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Twelve Months of the Year woodblock print portfolio.] [Print for November, huge male head with frosty locks arching above plowed fields and bare trees](https://www.loc.gov/item/2019647541/) | `loc:2019647541` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 771 × 1024, vertical, 1923 | Library of Congress | No known restrictions on publication | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Chinese woodblock print - MET CP 402 (cropped)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_402_(cropped).jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_402_(cropped).jpg` | Drawings & prints, 994 × 1324, vertical | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 1.0 | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [A Newly Cut Print: Scenes from the First Part of Outlaws of the Marsh](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.73) | `cleveland:679101` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 7666 × 5525, 1796 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Beauty Under an Umbrella in the Snow](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/22935) | `artic:22935` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 628 × 3000, vertical, 1765 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Tomonoura by Yoshida Hiroshi, 1927, woodblock print, Honolulu Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tomonoura_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1927,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Tomonoura_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1927,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg` | Drawings & prints, 800 × 521, 1927 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Twelve Months of the Year woodblock print portfolio.] [Print for October, woman with bowed head and long tresses standing over a gravesite with leaves falling around her](https://www.loc.gov/item/2019647539/) | `loc:2019647539` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 781 × 1024, vertical, 1923 | Library of Congress | No known restrictions on publication | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [A Newly-Cut Print of Illustrations from The Classic of Mountains and Seas](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.72) | `cleveland:679100` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 7932 × 5764, 1796 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Cranes on snow-covered pine](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/21720) | `artic:21720` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 1379 × 3000, vertical, 1829 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Calm Wind by Yoshida Hiroshi, 1937, woodblock print, Honolulu Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calm_Wind_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1937,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Calm_Wind_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1937,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg` | Drawings & prints, 554 × 800, vertical, 1937 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [A Newly-Cut Print: Scenes from the Second Part of Record of the Three Kingdoms](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.71) | `cleveland:679099` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 12556 × 9484, 1796 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Mishima: Morning Mist (Mishima, asagiri), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/10926) | `artic:10926` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 3804 × 2436, 1828 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Chinese woodblock print - MET CP 404 (cropped)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_404_(cropped).jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_404_(cropped).jpg` | Drawings & prints, 1002 × 1357, vertical | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 1.0 | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Satirical Prints of Suzhou Customs](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.62) | `cleveland:679092` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 10892 × 7911, 1760 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Musashino by Yoshida Hiroshi, 1928, woodblock print, Honolulu Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Musashino_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1928,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Musashino_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1928,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg` | Drawings & prints, 800 × 535, 1928 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [The Heron Maiden](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/22939) | `artic:22939` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 463 × 3000, vertical, 1761 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Chinese woodblock print - MET CP 366 (cropped)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_366_(cropped).jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_366_(cropped).jpg` | Drawings & prints, 1127 × 1501, vertical | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 1.0 | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [The Actor Otani Hiroji III as Kawazu no Saburo in the Play Myoto-giku Izu no Kisewata, Performed at the Ichimura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1770](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/12764) | `artic:12764` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 1481 × 3000, vertical, 1765 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Arum by Onchi Kōshirō, 1946, woodblock print, Honolulu Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arum_by_Onchi_K%C5%8Dshir%C5%8D,_1946,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Arum_by_Onchi_Kōshirō,_1946,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg` | Drawings & prints, 672 × 800, vertical, 1946 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [The Actors Tamazawa Saijiro I as the pageboy Umezaburo and Segawa Kikunojo I as Oroku in the play "Sazareishi Suehiro Genji," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the first month, 1744](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/19366) | `artic:19366` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 1639 × 3000, vertical, 1744 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Yoshikawa by Yoshida Hiroshi, 1935, woodblock print, Honolulu Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yoshikawa_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1935,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Yoshikawa_by_Yoshida_Hiroshi,_1935,_woodblock_print,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg` | Drawings & prints, 800 × 536, 1935 | Wikimedia Commons | Public domain | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Leftmost Print from Pleasure Boats on the Sumida River beneath Shin-Ōhashi Bridge](https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1153) | `cleveland:95400` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 5223 × 7825, vertical, 1792 | Cleveland Museum of Art | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Goldfish, from the series "Elegant Comparison of Little Treasures (Furyu kodakara awase)"](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/13405) | `artic:13405` | Drawings & prints, Drawing / print, 2400 × 3456, vertical, 1797 | Art Institute of Chicago | Public domain (museum open access, CC0) | Commercial use OK | yes |
| [Chinese woodblock print - MET CP 430 (cropped)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_430_(cropped).jpg) | `wikimediacommons:Chinese_woodblock_print_-_MET_CP_430_(cropped).jpg` | Drawings & prints, 1110 × 889 | Wikimedia Commons | CC0 1.0 | Commercial use OK | yes |

## Questions

**Is Hokusai's Great Wave free to use?**

Impressions held by museums with open access, such as the Met and the Art Institute of Chicago, are released as CC0 and free to use commercially. The verdict on each image confirms it.

**Why are there several versions of the same print?**

Woodblock prints were made in editions. Museums hold different impressions, with different colours and wear, and each is photographed separately.

## Related collections

- [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums.
- [Free botanical illustrations and plant drawings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/botanical-illustrations.md): Free public-domain botanical illustrations: hand-coloured plates of flowers, fruit and plants from old herbals and museums, ready for print and design.
- [Vintage maps: free antique maps and atlases](https://image.shep.bot/collections/vintage-maps.md): Free antique and vintage maps from the Library of Congress and Wikimedia Commons: city plans, world maps and charts, with the rights statement for each.

---
Source: https://image.shep.bot/collections/japanese-woodblock-prints