Original Wada Sanzo Woodblock Print Evening Newspaper Seller Yukan-uri Showa #14 c.1939 14"W LS#164

Wada Sanzō (1883–1967) — Evening Newspaper Seller (夕刊賣, Yūkan-uri), No. 14 from Shōwa Shokugyō E-zukushi (Japanese Vocations in Pictures)

Vintage Japanese Shōwa Era, c. 1939–40

The Shōwa Shokugyō E-zukushi series began in 1938 and was published by Nishinomiya Shoin; the prewar sequence contains 48 prints, interrupted in 1943 during the Pacific War. This impression is from the original Nishinomiya Shoin edition, limited to 300 impressions.

A cold, blustery winter street: a bundled newspaper vendor clutches a sheaf of evening editions against the wind beside a red utility pole and bare tree, while a young woman in Western coat and scarf leans behind him. To the right, a second vendor holds a broadsheet aloft for a customer, and a third sits behind a wooden crate stall, papers spread across the cloth in front of him. Wind-whipped hair and scarves, the chill palette of greys and muted greens, and the spare nocturnal setting give the composition an immediacy that sets it apart from the more static occupation prints in the series — Wada capturing not just a trade but a moment of weather and city life. Series cartouche upper right: 昭和職業繪盡 第十四 夕刊賣; signature 三造 with red artist's seal, lower left.

• Title: 夕刊賣 (Yūkan-uri — Evening Newspaper Seller)
• Artist: Wada Sanzō (和田三造, 1883–1967)
• Series: Shōwa Shokugyō E-zukushi (昭和職業絵尽 — Japanese Vocations in Pictures), No. 14
• Publisher: Nishinomiya Shoin, c. 1939–40
• Edition: Limited to 300 impressions
• Format: Ōban yoko-e, approx. 14 3/8" W × 10 1/8" H (36.5 × 25.7 cm); color woodblock print on washi

Condition: Very good.