Toy print Shinpana Sumo Tsuku-shi Kaga-kichi edition Woodblock print Sumo wrestler Edo Meiji Sumo

36cm x 24cm. Believed to be from the Edo to Meiji periods. Kagaya Kihei.

Omocha-e (toy prints) are a type of Nishiki-e primarily aimed at children, which were popular from the late Edo period to the Meiji period. They came in various forms, from picture-book-like toys resembling chiyogami paper, to those meant to be cut out and played with using scissors or knives, and others bound like orihon (folding books) or Japanese-style books. Children enjoyed them as toys and learned essential daily knowledge through play. Due to their nature, not many have survived.

From the Edo to Meiji periods, various Ukiyo-e prints were produced for children, including picture books, illustrated guides, and cut-out toys like menko (a type of Japanese card game). These greatly contributed to the improvement of children's culture during this era. Their content was diverse, including items for play, educational materials, kite designs, and craft prints. Examples include dress-up prints, Ane-sama prints (prints of women for dressing up), double-sided prints, folding prints, anthropomorphic prints, assembly prints, tsukushi-e (prints depicting a series of items), sugoroku prints (picture sugoroku, a type of board game), karuta prints (card prints), shadow prints, and metsuzuke prints. In the Edo period, they were called teasobi-e (hand-play pictures), and Omocha-e is the name used after the Meiji period when the word omocha (toy) was coined.

During the Kansei and Kyōwa eras, artists like Kuwagata Keisai and Katsushika Hokusai actively created these prints. Later, during the Bunka era, artists such as Utagawa Kuninaga and Utagawa Toyohisa were active in this field. Towards the end of the Edo period, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Utagawa Kunitoshi, Utagawa Kuni'ume, Ochiai Yoshiiku, and Hasegawa Sadano were involved. Utagawa Yoshihisa, who was particularly active from the late Edo to the Meiji periods, is renowned as a creator of omocha-e.