We sell

Wood Block prints (Ukiyo-e and Shin-hanga)Kakejiku (hanging scroll),Nihon-ga (framed Japanese style paintings),Yo-ga (framed Japanese-western style oil paintings),Byoubu (folding screens),Antique Books published in Edo, Meiji and Taisho era

At present, our main line-ups are: Kakejiku (scrolls), Ukiyo-e, Byobu (Screens), Japanese paintings, Japanese antique rare books. The variety of the items will be expanded over a period of times. We do hope that you will be able to find your favorite art pieces at our website. We are looking forward to your order

Featured Artists

Ukiyo-e Artists:Hiroshige,Hokusai,Utamaro,Yoshitoshi,
Shin-Hanga and Modern Print by famous artists such as Kawase Hasui, 
Artists in Edo era such as Maruyama Okyo, Ito Jakuchu etc.…
Artists in Meiji, Taisho, Showa era.

Customer Services

Although all of our staffs are Japanese, English speaking staff members are in charge of corresponding email from overseas customers. They have been stayed abroad for a long period of time or studied abroad in London, Paris and Moscow. We can answer most of your questions and requests. Of course, we more or less understand your jokes as well! Do not hesitate to show your sense of humor in your email. The director of this website, Chiaki Tanaka also can communicate with clients in English though he has not lived abroad (sometimes his English may sound a little bit unnatural but he is doing his best to write hearty and humorous email! Even for Shukado staff, it seems to be difficult to understand his sense of humor in some cases....). If you are very lucky, you can receive his email. Although there is a time difference issue, we can be contacted by phone in English during our opening hours. If you are in a hurry, please give us a call. (However, please try to email us first.)


Shipping

We deliver your precious orders by EMS. EMS is a super quick delivery service (Surprise, surprise! For some cases, it takes only 2 days for delivery to major cities in Europe and the US!) and you can track where your parcel is on the web. Shipping cost is indicated for each item. Please check the shipping cost in advance of making your purchase order. If you consecutively make successful bids and place orders with our online shopping site, we can ship them together so that you can save your shipping costs. 

Return Policy 30-Day-Return Policy!

When you shop online, you may worry “Isn’t it a fraud?” “Don’t they send the fake items?” “Do they really respond to complaints?” We understand your worries. In particular, if you are going to order something with the company in the “Far East” where ninjya, samurai and geisha still exist ( --- just kidding! But you may find some Japanese young people wearing cartoon characters’ costumes in Tokyo!). Therefore, we have a return policy for the customers who may be a little bit skeptical about dealing with overseas companies. You may return your order for WHATEVER REASONS such as “the item looks a bit different from what you have expected” or even “you break up with your girlfriend to whom you were going to give our item as a special present”.

  For the item return, please notify us of it within 30 days from the receipt of your order and pack it to ship back to us. As soon as it arrives, we refund you with your payment for the item and the shipping cost. Please note that we would like you to bear the return shipping cost and cooperate with us for careful packing. In case, the condition of your order has seriously damaged since its arrival to you, we may not accept your return.

About Our Staff

Mrs. Ikuko Kuwata-Kelly -Customer Relations-
She just got married to an American guy. She is expecting a baby due in this late autumn. She was also born in Kyoto (so called Kyo-onna or Kyoto girl) and was raised in the Philippines. She spent her 20’s in Moscow. She is a very internationally minded Japanese woman! You may already have read her English or Japanese newsletter full of her GENKI spirits.

Mr. Takeshi Honda -Sales-
He is in charge of seles for domestic customers. He worked on a cruise ship before joing us. On a cruise ship joing us, he made so many friends all over the world. He can communicate well with overseas customers at Shukado. His English is a little bit broken though…

Mr. Chiaki Tanaka -President-
When Ikuko san and Takeshi san are out of office, director Chiaki will handle communications with overseas customers. If you are lucky (?), you will receive email from him. He is a father of two daughters. His hobby is watching movies and playing golf. When he was a university student, he wanted to be a filmmaker and still has that dream. But, for a while, he wants to work hard to make Shukado a No.1 gallery in Asia!

 
Ms. Shimako Kondo -Shipping -
She is in charge of shipping. Her neat packing and hearty service are highly valued at Shukado. If you are lucky, you may find her special little present in the parcel of your order. (She encloses such a little present when she is in a good mood.)

 
Ms. Moi Hanawa -Commentary-
She takes a leadership role in helping other staff members write commentaries for shukado artworks . She sometimes writes email as well. Actually, she has a very extensive knowledge of Japanese fine arts history. She also creates illustrations. In the future, she may become one of the most famous scholars in the field of Japanese fine arts.

 
Ms. Hitomi Tsuda -Photo Shooting and Inventory Management-
She is a very delightful girl who is always supporting other staff members’ jobs. She took all of the photos on our website. Her hobby is mountain climbing and heavy physical work . Although she is a very slim,fragile girl, she is so powerful that she can carry very heavy things.

 
Jichiro Tanaka -Supervisor-
He is the father of Chiaki. He is 72 years old. His hobby is playing golf, mahjong, shougi (Japanese Chess), game of go and reading novels. He plays golf with a handicap of 15. He is at the top ranking for amateurs’ games of Shougi and Go. For some reasons, he likes American novels including adventure stories and detective stories (such as Sydney Sheldon’s novels). He has an amazing wide-rauge knowledge of Japanese fine arts and cultural figures. In his 20’s, he used to sell antique books to the universities in the US including the one in Hawaii. Recently, he often won bids for Japanese fine arts including Nara e-hon antique books at Christies NY. If you ask someone from Japanese fine arts department of Christies, they must know his name (as a troublesome old Japanese guy?).

How to Select Japanese Fine Arts

What are the “original” prints?

When you take a look at ukiyoe prints, it is very important to check whether they are reproduction or original prints. For famous artists, the number of prints increases. For example, with regard to 100 views of Edo by Hiroshige, hundreds of prints were publishes from the early edition to the new wood block prints to the present. The key points for the judgment are: the quality of the paper and ink, impression and colors and sharpness of the printing lines.

If the original wood block for the first edition is used for publication, they can be called as “original” prints. After the long use the woodblock wears out and new wood block were made. Then new wood blocks were created to make more prints. Such prints and prints made by offset printings or other printing method are called “reproduction”.

There are various kinds of ”original” prints

As it was mentioned in the previous section, there are two kinds of quality prints: “Shozuri” and “Atozuri”. Shozuri prints were under the control of the artists and Atozuri prints were published without their control. It is said that 100 to 200 prints were published as Shozuri per artwork. Therefore, the Shozuti of Hiroshige or Hokusai’s popular series existing today are very rare. For instance, Hokurai’s print, which was priced about 400 thousand USD at the auction house in London, was Shozuri. In particular, as for popular series including Hiroshige’s 100 famous views of Edo, 53 stations of Tokaido and Hokusai’s 36 views of Mount Fuji, the fact that the print is Shozuri or not is a crucial factor for their market value. If we have a change to get those popular prints, we will post them at this e-bay auction site. Please keep checking our website! To tell the truth, the word Atozuri is a little bit vague concept. When we value the prints, we check how many different elements exist (such as the number of colors used or whether bokashi shading technique is used or not). However, please remember that Atozuri prints are not always low value or valueless.

Condition

There will be several negative elements in their conditions that may violate their value such as faded colors, poor impression, soiling, burn, worm holes, rubbing and creasing since they are very old prints. Of course, it would be the best if there are no such damages with the prints. However, if the antique print is in too perfect conditions, you may have to suspect that it may be a reproduction print.

Ukiyoe Artists

Each period of ukiyoe history has different characteristics and there were different star ukiyoe artists for each period. In the early time of ukiyoe, Moronobu? was a star ukiyoe artist for black and white prints. Then Harunobu started multi color prints and Utamaro developed the field of gorgeous multi color prints. This was followed by skill full artists Hokusai, Sharaku and Hiroshige. In the late years, Eisen ? created prints of decadent beauty. Besides those famous artists, there are many ukiyoe artists for each period.
Sharaku created outstandingly great works but there are not many prints exist now; therefore his prints are very expensive. Hokusai is second best ranked artist and his works are very popular. We think that he is one of the greatest ukiyoe artists. Hiroshige’s landscape prints are also in great demand. If you are a collector of ukiyoe, you must have Hiroshige’s prints. On the other hand, ukiyoe artists in the Meiji era such as Yoshitoshi excel in wonderful composition. We also recommend Yoshitoshi’s artworks.