Kitagawa Utamaro Ukiyo-e Print Rediscovered after 43 Years; Edo Period Artwork to Go on Display at Tokyo Museum

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:58 JST, May 13, 2025

An early print of an ukiyo-e by Kitagawa Utamaro, titled “Young Woman Blowing a Poppin,” has been rediscovered after being missing for about 43 years, according to the Tokyo National Museum.

The print will be on display from May 20 at the museum’s current special exhibition in Ueno Park, Tokyo, “Tsutaya Juzaburo: Creative Visionary of Edo.”

Utamaro’s depictions of beautiful women in ukiyo-e woodblock prints, published by Tsutaya Juzaburo, contributed to his rise in popularity starting around 1792.

“Young Woman Blowing a Poppin” was used in both the “Fujinsogaku Jittei” (10 physiognomic types of women) series and the “Fujoninso Jippon” (10 classes of women’s physiognomy) series that followed.

Only one other copy of this work from early in the printing of the Fujinsogaku Jittei series has been confirmed, and it is part of the Honolulu Museum of Art’s collection in Hawaii.

The recently rediscovered artwork had been auctioned in Paris in the early 1980s and its subsequent whereabouts were unknown for an extended period.

In March, the Tokyo National Museum was contacted by a Tokyo-based art dealer who reported possessing the work, the museum said Monday. A museum researcher confirmed its authenticity.

Ukiyo-e prints are prone to fading with exposure to light. “It seems to have been carefully stored, and the vibrant purple of the kimono remains remarkably well-preserved. The crisp outlines of the prints, a feature unique to early works, are also a key feature,” said museum researcher Kana Murase.