Kitagawa Utamaro’s handscroll Fukagawa in Snow soared past expectations at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on 22 November, setting a new auction record for the artist and the ukiyo-e genre at HK$55.3 million (US$7.1 million).
At over three meters wide, the painting ranks among the largest paintings from the Edo period. Believed to have been commissioned by a wealthy merchant in Tochigi, it is the only surviving piece in Japan from Utamaro’s famed triptych, Snow, Moon, and Flowers. The other two – Moon at Shinagawa and Cherry Blossoms at Yoshiwara – are held in U.S. museum collections.
Estimated at HK$6-8 million, the scroll was the top lot in the Masterpieces of Asian Art from the Okada Museum of Art sale, which saw fierce bidding across most works. All 125 lots were sold, totaling over HK$688 million (US$88.4 million), with many selling far above their estimates.
Ahead of the auction, the work drew concern from Tochigi City, where local officials held emergency meetings over fears of losing the cultural treasure overseas, but the work eventually went to a private collector in Japan.
A white glove was presented to each of the three auctioneers after the sale
Lot 1026 | Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806) | Fukagawa in Snow (Fukagawa no yuki), hanging scroll, ink, colour and gofun on paper
Edo period, early 19th century (circa 1802-06)
198.8 x 341.1 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Kamaya Zenno Ihe (d. 1824), Tochigi
- Samuel Siegfried Bing (1838-1905), Paris, late 1880s
- Takeo Nagase (1907-?), Tokyo, 1939
- Private collection, Japan
- Acquired from the above, 2012
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$45,000,000
Sold: HK$55,275,000 (US$7.1 million)
Bidding for Fukagawa in Snow opened at HK$5 million and escalated through more than 35 bids between an online bidder and at least three on the phone. After nine intense minutes, Tokyo-based Senior Advisor Yasuaki Ishizaka secured the lot at a hammer price of HK$45 million for his client, paddle 6779.
Utamaro's previous auction record was set in 2016, when Deeply Hidden Love sold for €745,800 (approximately US$841,000) at Beaussant Lefèvre, in association with Christie's. Part of the Portier Collection of Japanese Art, that sale also set the second-highest price for ukiyo-e at auction at the time.
Among recent high-valued ukiyo-e sales was Katsushika Hokusai's Beauty in Snow, with Inscription by Shokusanjin, which sold for ¥621 million (US$4 million) just weeks ago at auction in Japan to Nitori Co., a major home furnishings retailer based in Sapporo, Hokkaido.
Cristine Li | Specialist, Chinese Works of Art, Sotheby's Hong Kong
Kitagawa Utamaro | Deeply Hidden Love | Sold for €745,000 (approximately US$841,000) in 2016
Katsushika Hokusai | Beauty in Snow, with Inscription by Shokusanjin | Sold for ¥621 million (US$4 million) to Nitori Co. in November 2025
Winter in Tochigi City
The present lot Fukagawa in Snow
Painted between 1802 and 1806, Fukagawa in Snow is a remarkable example of the ukiyo-e artist’s late-period work and one of his most ambitious undertakings. Using the fukinuki-yatai (blown-off roof) technique, Utamaro removes architectural obstructions to draw the viewer into a quietly evocative winter scene set in Edo’s licensed pleasure district.
In the foreground, a serving woman carries a lacquer tray with prepared fish, followed by another with sake vessels. Along a corridor, figures arrive with musical instruments and bundled bedding – a nod to a custom unique to Fukagawa, where geisha were known to bring personal items for overnight stays.
Twenty-seven figures – twenty-six women and one child – are arranged in narrative clusters across the expansive composition. In typical mitate (elegant confusion) style, Utamaro reimagines classical subjects: all adult characters, whether guests or hosts, are portrayed as women.
Among the varied activities, Utamaro applies a rich palette of malachite green, vermilion, pale indigo in the clouds, deep sumi with a lacquer-like sheen, and simulated metallic pigments – executed on two large sheets of imported Chinese paper measuring over 3.4 meters.
Close-up of Fukagawa in Snow
Close-up of Fukagawa in Snow
Close-up of Fukagawa in Snow
Close-up of Fukagawa in Snow
The scroll forms part of a triptych themed on Snow, Moon, and Flowers (Setsugekka), believed to have been commissioned by Kamaya Zenno Ihei (d. 1824), a wealthy merchant from Tochigi. The lavish series is said to have taken Utamaro over a decade to complete.
The Setsugekka motif – snow, moon, and flowers – was a popular theme in the Edo period, symbolizing seasonal beauty through shades of white: snow for winter, the harvest moon for autumn, and cherry blossoms for spring. In Utamaro’s interpretation, these classical symbols are poetically paired with Edo’s three pleasure quarters: Fukagawa, Shinagawa, and Yoshiwara.
Cherry Blossoms at Yoshiwara | Collection of Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut
Moon at Shinagawa | Collection of Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Nearly 80 years after its creation, Snow and Cherry Blossoms was exhibited in 1879 at Joganji Temple in Tochigi, where it formed part of the Zenno family collection. In the late 1880s and early 1890s, all three works entered the Paris art market, acquired by Japonisme pioneers such as Samuel Bing and Hayashi Tadamasa.
Eventually, Moon and Flowers made their way to the U.S., where they now reside in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut. Snow was returned to Japan in 1939 by ukiyo-e collector Nagase Takeo and exhibited publicly in 1952 at a department store show in Tokyo.
The scroll then disappeared from public view, its whereabouts unknown for nearly seventy years – until it was rediscovered in 2012 and acquired by the Okada Museum of Art, founded by Japanese casino magnate Kazuo Okada.
The Okada Museum of Art was founded by Japanese casino magnate Kazuo Okada
Kazuo Okada
Tochigi City has long expressed interest in bringing Snow home. In 2009, the city commissioned a local civic group to track the missing work, and the then-mayor publicly stated a desire to acquire it if it resurfaced, warning that if sold overseas, it might never return.
Those concerns intensified after news of the sale broke. On 13 November, local groups, including the Utamaro Town Development Council, held an emergency meeting. One member voiced fears that the work could vanish into a private collection outside Japan; others speculated the price might exceed ¥1 billion – a prediction that proved eerily accurate.
Some residents proposed crowdfunding or utilizing Japan's furusato nozei (hometown tax) system, but the city ultimately took a cautious stance, noting that without a confirmed price or allocated budget, participation was not feasible.
Lot 1012 | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as The Great Wave, woodblock print
Edo period, 19th century (circa 1831-33)
Horizontal oban: 26.3 x 38.1 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$5,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$17,500,000
Sold: HK$21,725,000
Lot 1100 | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Sudden Rain beneath the Summit (Sanka haku-u), also known as Black Fuji, woodblock print
Edo period, 19th century, published by Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo), late 1831
Horizontal oban: 27 x 39.1 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$2,000,000 - 2,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,600,000
Sold: HK$7,112,000
The Okada collection of masterpieces from China, Japan, and Korea was assembled over three decades by Kochukyo Co., Ltd., the esteemed Tokyo dealership founded by Hirota Matsushige (later known as Fukosai). Since 1924, Kochukyo has advised many of Japan’s leading private collectors and institutions, helping shape some of the country’s most significant holdings.
The sale offered a rare opportunity to acquire museum-quality Asian works, and bidding was intense across multiple categories. Among the Japanese highlights was a series of works by Katsushika Hokusai, including prints from his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.
The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa set an auction record for the iconic design when it sold for HK$21.8 million (US$2.8 million) against a pre-sale estimate of HK$5 million, while Red Fuji and Black Fuji also surpassed high estimates.
Hokusai’s bijin-ga (beautiful woman pictures) drew similarly strong interest. A Summer Morning (Natsu no asa) – a luminous portrait of a woman gazing into a mirror during her morning toilette – fetched HK$20.5 million. Another standout, the historical painting Night Attack at the Horikawa Residence, exceeded its estimate nearly eightfold, selling for HK$12.6 million.
Lot 1057 | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Fine Wind, Clear Weather (Gaifu kaisei), also known as Red Fuji, woodblock print
Edo period, 19th century, published by Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo), late 1831
Horizontal oban: 25.4 x 38.2 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$2,000,000 - 2,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,500,000
Sold: HK$5,715,000
Lot 1033 | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | A Summer Morning (Natsu no asa), hanging scroll: ink and colour on silk
Edo period, early 19th century (circa 1804-13)
86.2 x 32.4 cm (excluding mount); 176.5 x 45.5 cm (including mount)
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Matsuki Zen’emon (1864-1931)
- A Japanese private collection
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$16,500,000
Sold: HK$20,505,000
Lot 1042 | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Night Attack at the Horikawa Residence (Horikawa youchi zu), hanging scroll: ink and colour on silk
Edo period, 19th century (circa 1823-26)
106 x 37.2 cm (excluding mount); 189 x 49 cm (including mount)
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Boke shozohin nyusatsu [Auction of Items from a Certain Collector], Osaka Art Club, Osaka, 3rd April 1922, Lot 48.
- A Kyoto private collection
- Manno Yasuaki (1906-1998)
- Manno Art Museum
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$10,000,000
Sold: HK$12,575,000
Founded in 2013 by Kazuo Okada, the Okada Museum of Art is believed to have released works to help raise US$50 million in legal fees related to Okada’s long-running dispute with Wynn Resorts.
A former partner of Steve Wynn, Okada co-founded Wynn Resorts in 2002 but was ousted a decade later amid mutual accusations of improper payments in Asia. He later won a US$2.6 billion settlement but lost in arbitration over legal fees to his U.S. law firm.
While some reports link the Sotheby’s auction to this legal debt, others suggest it may also be connected to ongoing family disputes. A special notice issued by Sotheby’s stated:
“The Property has been consigned to us for sale by an agent of the court-appointed receivers over the shares of Okada Fine Art Limited, pursuant to that certain court order of the High Court of Hong Kong stamped 24 October 2023, and that certain court order of the High Court of Hong Kong stamped 29 April 2025.”
Highlight Japanese and Korean Lots from Masterpieces of Asian Art from the Okada Museum of Art Sale:
Lot 1068 | Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) | Cockerel among flowers, hanging scroll: ink, colour, gold and gofun on silk
Edo period, mid-18th century
109.9 x 49.2 cm (excluding mount); 202 x 64 cm (including mount)
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Murano Sanjin (1848-1921)
- Murano Sanjin shi shozhin nyusatsu [Auction of the Collection of Murano Sanjin], Osaka Art Club, Osaka, 7th April 1918, lot 93
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$1,200,000 - 1,600,000
Hammer Price: HK$7,500,000
Sold: HK$9,525,000
Lot 1114 | Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806) | Standing geisha, hanging scroll: ink, colour and gofun on silk
Edo period, early 19th century
99.7 x 33.6 cm (excluding mount); 187 x 46.7 cm (including mount)
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- A private collection, Cannes, France
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Hammer Price: HK$6,500,000
Sold: HK$8,255,000
Lot 1040 | Kayama Matazo (1927-2004) | Crescent Moon (Hatsuzuki), six-panel folding screen: ink, colour, gold and silver pigment on silk
Showa period, 20th century (1967)
167.7 x 363 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$6,000,000
Sold: HK$7,620,000
Lot 1020 | Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) | Cockerel in snow, hanging scroll: ink, colour, gold and gofun on silk
Edo period, late 18th century
109.9 x 49.2 cm (excluding mount); 177 x 63.5 cm (including mount)
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,500,000
Sold: HK$5,715,000
Lot 1075 | Higashiyama Kaii (1908-1999) | Cathedral at Dawn, Linberg, Germany (Asa no seido, Doitsu, Rinburuku),
Showa period, 20th century (1971)
100.3 x 65.2 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Mitsukoshi Department Store
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,200,000
Sold: HK$5,334,000
Lot 1098 | Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795) | Dogs and puppies, hanging scroll: ink and light colour on silk
Edo period, dated Mizunoto-mi kito sha (painted at the end of winter in the Year of the Water Snake [1773])
64 x 125.5 cm (excluding mount); 173 x 136 cm (including mount)
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$120,000 - 150,000
Hammer Price: HK$3,700,000
Sold: HK$4,699,000
Lot 1111 | Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795) | Puppies and cotton plants, hanging scroll: ink and colour on silk
Edo period, late 18th century
190 x 49 cm (including mount); 103.4 x 37.5 cm (excluding mount)
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$120,000 - 150,000
Hammer Price: HK$800,000
Sold: HK$1,016,000
Lot 1051 | An exquisite slip-inlaid celadon-glazed kundika [water vessel]
Goryeo dynasty, 13th century
Height: 43.8 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- A private collector, Japan
- Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,700,000
Sold: HK$2,159,000
Lot 1019 | A celadon stoneware inlaid maebyong
Goryeo dynasty, 12th century
Height: 28.4 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- A private collector, Japan
- Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$600,000 - 800,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,200,000
Sold: HK$1,524,000
Lot 1031 | A large Aode Kutani dish
Fuku mark, Arita ware, Hizen, Edo period, circa 1640-50
Diameter: 37.4 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Yanagi Takashi (1938-2021)
- Property from the Okada Museum of Art
Estimate: HK$500,000 - 700,000
Hammer Price: HK$850,000
Sold: HK$1,079,500
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby's Hong Kong
Sale: Masterpieces of Asian Art from the Okada Museum of Art
Date: 22 November 2025
Number of Lots: 125
Sold: 125
Sale Rate: 100%
Sale Total: HK$688,343,000