76 Shōda Kōhō 1875 – 1946 Boy riding on his ox playing flute

Japan, 1910s–1930s (shin-hanga movement)

This poetic sheet is the work of Shoda Koho, a prominent figure in the shin-hanga ("New Prints") movement and a former student of the master Ogata Gekko. The artist brilliantly utilizes the extremely narrow 3 by 13-inch format (ko-tanzaku). These specific proportions, also known as pillar prints (hashira-e), were a by-product of traditional Japanese architecture, which often offered only narrow structural posts as solid surfaces for hanging pictures. The scene captures an idyllic nocturnal moment: a boy riding on the back of his ox, wading through shallow water, playing a flute while a full moon shines quietly above them. The present woodblock print bears the catalog number 1570 and originates from the publisher's series "Japanese Scenes on Tanzaku". The sheet is in excellent condition with strong, unfaded colors; the margins are trimmed as is typical for this format, and the publisher's stamp is present on the verso.