Featured Mystery Asian Art Watercolor or Prints

I was cleaning out some of my parents’ estate and came across these two watercolors or prints. I think I remember my dad pinked them up in Japan or Okinawa during WW2. They are about 13 by 8 inches unframed. If anyone can read the writing or stamps or tell me more about them, that would be great. I added a few close up photos of the printing from a microscope camera.

 

Woodblocks

 

Yep. The top one looks like he bought it new. I'm not expert enough to guess on the other. I'm a wood block junkie so I like them.

 

they are lovely....

 

The first one is by Utagawa Hiroshige - "Okabe: Utsu Mountain"- from his series on 53 Stations of the Tokaido. The size of yours seems a bit smaller than a genuine original, which Sotheby's describes as 9 3/4" x 14 1/4".
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auc...agawa-hiroshige-1797-1858-okabe-utsu-mountain

The second one is also by Hiroshige - "Hakone, Kosui" - from the same series.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36932#:~:text=1833–34,Shrine in a dark forest.

 

Aha. No wonder the OP's dad liked them.

 

OK, I opened up one of the frames. The size is actually correct, it was cropped by the matting. It has lots od other markings on both sides. Maybe someone can identify the other markings??? Who did these woodblocks?

 

The original images are by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), but Japanese woodblock prints have frequently been reproduced in Japan and elsewhere. The original blocks could be reused in later editions, new blocks could be carved with the same images, and more modern reproduction methods have also been used. It can be quite complex to sort out.

Gihachiro Okuyama was a 20th century artist (1907-1981), with a more contemporary style. It may be that he made these copies of Hiroshige's images. But you may need to find a specialist in Japanese wood block prints, also called "ukiyo-e", to tell you what you have.