Article: Ohara Koson Prints: The Bird-and-Flower Prints That Suit Every Room
Ohara Koson Prints: The Bird-and-Flower Prints That Suit Every Room
This article is part of our Ultimate Fine Art Print Buyer's Guide.
If you want Japanese art on your wall but a great wave or a mountain feels too big for the room, Ohara Koson is the answer. His prints are bird-and-flower pictures — a crow on a blossoming branch, an owl under a crescent moon, two cranes in the reeds — drawn with a calm, quiet eye and plenty of empty space around them. They are tall and narrow, they suit almost any room, and they are among the easiest Japanese prints to give as a present.
In brief: For drama, choose Crow at Full Moon or Heron in Snow. For a bedroom or a calm corner, choose an owl or the geese under the moon. For colour, choose the macaws, the canary or the goldfish. For a hallway or a narrow wall, hang two or three Koson prints in a row — the shape was made for it.
Who Koson was, in one paragraph
Ohara Koson (1877–1945) trained as a painter in Kanazawa and spent his working life in Tokyo designing woodblock prints of birds, flowers and animals — the subject the Japanese call kacho-e. Many of his designs were made for buyers in Europe and America, which is one reason they look so at home in Western rooms. In the 1920s and 1930s he worked with the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, the driving force of the shin hanga movement that also produced Hasui and Yoshida. Where those artists painted whole landscapes, Koson came in close: one bird, one branch, one moon.
The moonlit prints: crows, geese and owls
Crow at Full Moon, at the top of this page, is the Koson to start with. A glossy black crow sits on a twisting branch of white cherry blossom, and a huge pale moon rises behind it. It is simple, graphic and a little mysterious, and it looks as good in a modern flat as in a traditional room.
Five Geese in Flight at Full Moon is softer: geese crossing a misty grey sky, a small white moon low down and a band of dark cloud between them. For a bedroom, look at Long-eared Owl in Ginkgo — a round-eyed owl on a ginkgo branch, a thin crescent moon above it, all in gentle greys and greens. If you like these, our guide to Night and Moonlight Art Prints has more pictures in the same mood.
Room: bedroom, living room, a study. Frame: black for the crow; natural oak or white for the geese and the owl.
Snow and winter
Heron in Snow (Black Ground) is the most striking Koson we print: a white heron on a snow-laden branch against a solid black background, with flakes of snow falling around it. Almost no colour, maximum contrast — it is the one to choose for a dark-painted wall or a minimal room. For something gentler, Waxwing on Snowy Plum shows a crested waxwing on a bare plum branch dusted with snow, against a warm, pinkish-beige sky. And for the bold, Roaring Tiger with Crescent Moon is a tiger seen from behind, turning to roar at a thin moon over snowy ground.
Room: hallway, living room, a dark dining room. Frame: black or white.
Water birds and the reeds
Two Cranes (Among the Reeds) shows a pair of red-crowned cranes wading through tall grasses under a sky that fades from peach to pale green — in Japan, cranes stand for long life and a lasting partnership, which makes this a lovely wedding or anniversary present. Kingfisher and Irises catches a blue kingfisher diving towards two small fish beneath purple irises, on an almost white background — light, fresh and right for a bathroom or kitchen.
Room: bathroom, kitchen, bedroom. Frame: white or natural oak.
Colour: macaws, canaries and goldfish
Not every Koson is quiet. Two Macaws pairs a scarlet macaw and a deep blue one on a branch of green leaves and red flowers. Canary and Poppies sets a small yellow bird among large purple poppies, and Goldfish and Wisteria has red goldfish swimming beneath trails of lilac wisteria. Peony with Butterfly — a full white-and-pink peony with a white butterfly against a pale blue sky — is the softest of all, and a good choice for a nursery.
Room: kitchen, nursery, a child's room, a bright living room. Frame: white or natural oak.
Koson in twos and threes
Because Koson's prints are tall and narrow, they work best in groups. Two prints side by side fill the space above a bed or a small sofa; three in a row suit a long hallway. Keep one thing the same — all moonlit, all snowy, or all one background colour — and the group looks planned. Our guide How Do I Pair Two or Three Art Prints Together? explains the rules. If you want it done for you, the Japanese Green Statement Trio sets Koson's white Peacock, fanned out against deep green, between two green Japanese woodblock designs.
Koson also sits well beside the Japanese landscape prints that share his soft palette — see Best Japanese Woodblock Prints for Modern Homes. If you are buying for someone who loves Japanese art this season, Koson is one of the easiest choices — quiet, beautiful and hard to get wrong; for more ideas by recipient, see The 9 Art Prints Holiday Gift Guide 2026.
Every print is made on Hahnemühle fine art paper with archival pigment inks, so the soft greys and gradated skies keep the depth of the original woodblock. Framed prints come in black, white, natural oak and brown walnut.
Summary: Crow at Full Moon or Heron in Snow for drama, the owls and geese for calm, the macaws and goldfish for colour, the cranes as a gift. Then hang two or three together.
Keep exploring the Birds Art Prints, Japanese Woodblock Prints and Serene Art Prints collections.
