27 Japanese Wall Art Ideas That Will Make You A Genius Decorator
The rich history of Japanese wall art is extensive. Japan's unique global position has dramatically influenced the dominant styles, techniques, and styles of Japanese artists.
Japan was isolated for centuries, not due to geographical location but the dominant Japanese cultural inclination toward isolation that shaped the country's past.
Zen Buddhism has significantly influenced Japanese aesthetics over the years. Later, these influences influenced woodblock printing techniques and other art movements.
Japan's wall art has been drawn to nature, especially mountains, inspired by the old Shinto religion, which considered nature sacred.
What is Japandi wall art?
Although you might not believe that Japan and Scandinavia share much in common, design elements are more similar than you might think. Both have a focus on simplicity, comfort, and natural elements.
So it's not surprising that designers combine the two styles to create "Japandi," also known as Japanese and Scandi.
What are the elements of Japandi wall art?
Japandi is about neutral tones. They are soothing and bring order to the soul. Therefore, Japandi wall art will feature natural, calming colors.
The Japandi style often uses flowers as elements from nature.
Japandi wall art also features animals and birds. To keep the piece serene and evocative, they continue to use minimalist lines and neutral colors.
Here is a selection of our 27 most amazing Japanese wall art from our collection with interior design inspirations:
1. Peacock by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
The majestic peacock stands tall and proud with its feathers as they shine bright against the green background working in perfect harmony.
2. Boats and Setting Sun by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
Boats and Setting Sun by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
Some of the greatest impressionists in modern art, like Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, were heavily influenced by Japanese woodblock artists like Koson. Looking at this work, it is not hard to see where the influence came from. With the flat surfaces and horizons at bay, the beauty is breathtaking, and the influence is tangible.
3. Retro, vintage style travel poster for Japan with Mount Fuji, pagoda, and cherry blossom flowers
Retro, vintage style travel poster for Japan with Mount Fuji, pagoda, and cherry blossom flowers
This Mount Fuji, pagoda, and blossom flowers print is part of the Stockholm Art House vintage travel poster collection.
We scoured through hundreds of public records to select our favorite ones to present to the Stockholm Art House.
While searching for prints to be hand selected, we only wanted works that were radiant with their vivid colors while giving off authentic vintage vibes to allow us to travel in time when looking at them.
4. Pink sky by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
Pink sky by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
A lovely print by Seitei is showered in a bright pink color and painted green and covered in white. Together they combine to create a bright, vivid, warm print that lights up any room.
5. Landscape illustration by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
Landscape illustration by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
With beige and brown stripes going across the print to symbolize rural Japan's fields, the green plots of land break them off with their contrasting color and shape to create a multifaceted print.
6. Floral Pattern by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
Floral Pattern by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
The floral pattern created by Seitei is created by not only the use of flowers and floral attributes but the color combination of white, red, and blue, creating a lovely pattern to be admired.
7. Bijutsu Sekai by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
Bijutsu Sekai by Watanabe Seitei (渡辺 省亭)
The prints of Sekai achieved, through their simplicity and playfulness, a lovely and harmonious setting. The beautiful colors and cute patterns combine to contribute to the brilliance of the print.
8. Blossoming Cherry on a Moonlit Night by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
Blossoming Cherry on a Moonlit Night by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
A beautiful depiction of the moonlight shining brightly down on the blossoming cherry trees. The full moon and the cherry blossom tree are traditional subjects in Japanese artworks.
9. Blossoming Cherry on a Moonlit Night by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
Blossoming Cherry on a Moonlit Night by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
A beautiful depiction of the moonlight shining brightly down on the blossoming cherry trees. The full moon and the cherry blossom tree are traditional subjects in Japanese artworks.
10. Yōrō Waterfall by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Yōrō Waterfall by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
The Yōrō waterfalls carry a significant role in both Japanese mythology and history.
The legend goes that a young man was trying to save his dying father by making him drink the water that tasted like sake, and with his dying breath, he has revived thanks to the alcohol-tasting water!
11. Toto Asakusa Honganji by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Toto Asakusa Honganji by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
In this depiction of Mount Fuji, the historic mountain is accompanied by a sneak peek into the traditional Japanese architecture of Hokusai's time as the Mountain peeks up above the mountains with its gracious presence.
12. The Plate Mansion by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
The Plate Mansion by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
The plate demon is based on the legend of Okiku. She worked as a maid at a warrior's house but was punished with death when she broke a plate and returned to haunt the house as a ghost.
Hokusai made his own artistic interpretation of the old tale and did so with the scary-looking creature representing the ghost of Okiku and surrounded her with dark and scary colors in the background to further enhance the story's tale.
13. The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
The first of Hokusai's 36 works of Mount Fuji and most likely the most famous one as it is one of the world's most recognizable artworks. The giant monster waves swarmed in with a tsunami of radiating and vivid blue colors making the monumental Mount Fuji look tiny in the background.
14. Shimotsuke Kurokami-Yama Kurifuri no Taki by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Shimotsuke Kurokami-Yama Kurifuri no Taki by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
An incredible depiction of a waterfall in the tropical Japanese forests is enhanced by Hokusai's shape-creating skills and color setting that contrast beautifully against each other to show the power and force of nature.
15. Sesshu Ajigawaguchi Tenposan by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Sesshu Ajigawaguchi Tenposan by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
A classical Ukiyo-e landscape print overlooking one of Japan's many tropical islands as pilgrims enter it to explore and enjoy the exotic colors and environment of the island that Hokusai has created so beautifully.
16. Mishima Pass in Kai Province by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Mishima Pass in Kai Province by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Hokusai created an iconic 36-piece Mount Fuji series today collected in museums and appreciated by art lovers worldwide. It is not hard to see why his works are so popular if we look at the attention to detail in the mountainous landscape while also being attainable through its lovely vivid colors.
17. Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
A surrealist artwork that combines elements of nature and tradition with the subjects in the print. With a majority white body, Hokusai breaks it off against colors such as pink, green and blue that create warmth represented by the fire that's spreading with its never-ending smoke.
18. Kohala Koheiji by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
Kohala Koheiji by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)
A playful and fun creation that, with the element of the sea and mountains on the horizon, creates an intriguing print that wakes the curiosity of viewer up to know what the subject is looking at so cautiously.
19. Lake Yamanaka by Hiroaki Takahashi
Lake Yamanaka by Hiroaki Takahashi
Of the five lakes surrounding Mount Fuji, Lake Yamanaka is the biggest one, and with Takahashi's depiction of it, the most beautiful one with the contrasting color of the bright green trees and the snow on top of the mountain.
20. Lake Chūzenji (1929) by Hiroaki Takahashi
Lake Chūzenji (1929) by Hiroaki Takahashi
Lake Chūzenji, also known as the lake of happiness, was created roughly 20,000 years ago when Mount Nantai broke away and formed the lake in Nikko National Park. He depicted the beautiful lake under the moonlight that shines a bright light and shines up the surrounding environment, allowing us to enjoy and appreciate the mountainous landscape surrounding the lake.
21. Foot of Mount Ashitaka (1932) by Hiroaki Takahashi
Foot of Mount Ashitaka (1932) by Hiroaki Takahashi
The 1,504 meters (4,934 ft) Mount Ashitaka stands tall in the southeast area of Mount Fiji, where the mountain not only works as a beautiful mountainous landscape but is like a rose with thorns; it stings as well. The mountain is actually an eroded stratovolcano.
22. Bellflower and Lantern by Hiroaki Takahashi
Bellflower and Lantern by Hiroaki Takahashi
A combination of Japanese symbols, such as the bellflower, mixed with the two fighting figures inside the lantern against the contracting black background, creating a lovely Japanese print.
23. Swallow Camellia (1900) by Itō Jakuchū (伊藤 若冲)
Swallow Camellia (1900) by Itō Jakuchū (伊藤 若冲)
The Camellia plant is found in southern and eastern Asia, from the Himalayas to Jakuchū's home of Japan. With his own adaptation of the color scheme of the flower, he created his own artistic version, and with the accompanying bird on his way to do nature's work, he captured a moment of botanical life.
24. Toyohara Kunichika (Beige) (豊原 国周)
Toyohara Kunichika (Beige) (豊原 国周)
The Japanese warrior bites down his sword as the bright red thunder rushes down. A classic work by Kunichika that embraces his qualities as an artist.
25. Toyohara Kunichika (Brown) (豊原 国周)
Toyohara Kunichika (Brown) (豊原 国周)
A Kunichika print of a Japanese woman dressed in colorful traditional clothing with various shapes and patterns.
26. Seagulls Above The Sea by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
Seagulls Above The Sea by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
As the seagulls are ferociously attacking the lonely cliff in the sea as the strong current and waves are hitting it, they do so in front of the excellently blended sky with pink, blue and white elements.
27. Iris Flowers by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
Iris Flowers by Ohara Koson (小原古邨)
The iris flowers are probably best associated with Vincent van Gogh, but even he was a major admirer of Japanese woodblock prints, so the works of Koson and its influences have far reach and importance in art history.
See the complete Japanese collection by clicking HERE
