Yosa Buson Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Yosa Buson Art Value Price Guide

Jun. 05, 2026
Buson Yosa: Autograph
Est: ¥100,000 - ¥200,000
signed
Ichi Art Company Ltd
Nov. 08, 2025
FIGURES (THREE BLESSINGS), SET OF THREE HANGING SCROLLS
Est: ¥2,000,000 - ¥3,000,000
Left Scroll: Signature lower left: “Shimei”; white square seal: “Lan Lang Zi”; red square seal: “Chao Cang” Center Scroll: Signature upper right: “Naniwa Nagatsutsumi Shimei Sanjin ga”; red square seal: “□□ Sanjin”; white square seal: “Keikan Sanjin” Right Scroll: Signature upper right: “Shimei”; white square seal: “Dan Shi Sheng You Si Fang Zhi”; red square seal: “Shimei Sanjin” scrolled 各 / each : 108.2×45.8 cm Yosa Buson, renowned alongside Matsuo Basho and Kobayashi Issa as a master of Edo-period haikai, excelled not only as a poet but also as a painter. Self-taught in various artistic techniques, he developed a unique approach known as haiga, integrating poetic sentiment into painting. A representative work is Okuno Michi Zukan (1777, An’ei 7), which illustrates Basho’s haiku. Buson was born in Settsu Province in Kyōhō 1 (1716), twenty-two years after Basho’s death. His original family name was Tani (or Taniguchi), later adopting the surname Yosa. Details about his parents remain uncertain; his father is said to have been a village headman, and his mother possibly came from Yosa District. Around the age of twenty, he moved to Edo and became a disciple of the haiku poet Yahan-tei Sōa (Hayano Hahito), who had relocated from Kyoto. He lived as an apprentice and adopted the haigo “Saimachi.” Following Sōa’s death in Kanpō 2 (1742), Buson left Edo and traveled to Shimodate in Yūki, staying with fellow disciple Sunaoka Gantō, and embarked on a journey of poetic practice across various regions. During this period, he also studied painting independently, practicing Chinese Southern Song painting and training at temples and shrines in Kyoto, as well as in Tango and Sanuki. This work bears a seal used exclusively during the Shimodate period in Yūki, dating from Kanpō 2 to Hōreki 1 (circa 1742–1751), and is thus considered to be a work from Buson’s late thirties. The central scroll depicts a figure writing before a warrior in red armor, with a simple design rendered solely in gofun on the clothing. On the side scrolls, one figure holds a fan for Noh performance, with a drum nearby; the right figure wears scarlet hakama outlined in gold, and gold is also used on the patterns of the upper garment, fan, and drum. The left figure layers a scarlet jacket with gold chidori patterns over gauze, and wears a light green hakama decorated with a spider-web motif in gold. The composition, with its unusual arrangement and ample negative space, shows traces of the Rimpa school, while the overall style reflects a rustic, unpretentious sensibility, more textured and expressive than his later works. The Shimodate period represents what is often referred to as his “earlier works,” spanning roughly ten years of travel in the Kanto and Tohoku regions, followed by three years in Tango. Buson moved to Kyoto in Hōreki 1 (1751) and later traveled to Tango in Hōreki 4 (1754), staying at Kenshō-ji Temple in Miyazu. During his approximately three-year stay in Hōreki 7 (1757), he interacted with fellow haikai poets and produced numerous paintings, including folding screens. Among his Japanese-style works from the Tango period, Seibu-zu (six-panel half-screen) and Dengaku Chaya-zu (six-panel half-screen), depicting figures such as servants and townspeople, show similarities to the figures in this work. Likewise, Oihakune-zu (four-panel Sugito-e) painted during the Kanto travel period (Shimodate period) shares stylistic tendencies, supporting the attribution of this work to the later phase of the Shimodate period.
Tozai New Art Co Ltd
Mar. 19, 2025
Yosa Buson, Broom and Scroll, ink and color on paper, hanging scroll
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
signed Yahan'o and sealed Sanka no in and Tosei Height 46⅛ in., 117.3 cm; Width 9⅞ in., 25 cm
Sotheby's
Sep. 04, 2024
A SIGNED SCROLL PAINTING OF EDO TRAFFIC
Est: €150 - €300
A SIGNED SCROLL PAINTING OF EDO TRAFFIC Presumably after Yosa Buson (1716-1784) Japan, 19th to early 20th century Ink and watercolors on paper. Mounted as a hanging scroll on a silk brocade frame with wooden handles. Depicting a man riding on horseback as another group merrily crosses the street with various implements. Inscriptions: Signed with seal. Image SIZE 25.5 x 26.5 cm, SIZE incl. mounting 128 x 43 cm Condition: Overall presenting well. Wear, soiling, fading, creasing, folds, and stains. The frame in good condition with some wear. With a wood tomobako storage box. (2)
Galerie Zacke
Feb. 23, 2024
THE PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING OF WULING by YOSA Buson
Est: ¥500,000 - ¥800,000
color on silk, 98.8×54.3 cm
New Art Est-Ouest Auctions
Jul. 15, 2023
Yosu Buson Umkreis, Haiku, japanische Tuschemalerei und Kalligraphie
Est: €500 - €600
Yosu Buson Umkreis, Haiku, japanische Tuschemalerei und Kalligraphie Yosa Buson (1716-1784), Nachfolge oder in Art des Künstlers, ein Gedicht mit expressiver Zeichnung, Tusche auf Papier, 69 x 30 cm, r. u. gesiegelt, montiert auf Bildrolle Yosu Buson Circumference, Haiku, Japanese Ink Painting and Calligraphy Yosa Buson (1716-1784), Succession or in the manner of the artist, a poem with expressive drawing, ink on paper, 69 x 30 cm, r. u. sealed, mounted on picture roll
K&K – Auktionen in Heidelberg
Jan. 21, 2023
Yosa Buson(=Shunsei[pen name], 1716
Est: -
Yosa Buson(=Shunsei[pen name], 1716-1784): ''Palace lady and oddball scholar playing zither, go, calligraphy and painting'' (according to box inscription ''Kankishogazu''), Japan, hanging scroll, ink and light colors on paper, in the humorous-cartoonish style of the poet-painter Yosa Buson the pictorial personnel is going about its noble occupations, whereby the skilfully spontaneous and fast-fluid brushwork in no way stands in the way of rich detail, in inscribed wooden box 2 seals ''Choko'' and ''Shunsei'', signed ''Toseisa Shunsei'', z.partly folding, 134x33cm(picture field)/ 194x45cm(total)/ 54cm(roll)
Historia Auctionata
Sep. 15, 2022
TWO JAPANESE PAINTINGS
Est: £300 - £500
TWO JAPANESE PAINTINGS 近藤浩一路雙駿圖紙本水墨及與謝蕪村書法紙本設色立軸（兩幅） one by Koichiro Kondo (1884-1962), ink on paper, depicting two horses in a field, signed and sealed lower right, mounted on paper; the other by Yosa Buson (1716-1784), kakejiku, ink and slight colour on paper, signed and sealed, mounted as hanging scroll (44.4cm x 52.3cm and 91.5cm x 22.3cm) Qty: (2) Provenance: Old collection of the late David C Symon, thence by descent David C Symon, a Scottish diplomat, raised in Edinburgh, studied at Oxford University, was posted to Japan in 1949-1955 under a scheme by the British Foreign Office following The Second World War. Five young men were sent, Hugh Cortazzi, Sydney Giffard (both to become British Ambassadors to Japan), David Symon, Dick Ellingworth and another. Mr Symon was appointed to the Imperial Court as the British liaison for the then Crown Prince Akihito to prepare him and accompany the Crown Prince to Britain for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. The visit lasted nearly a month. The photograph illustrated here shows the two of them walking the day before the coronation, through St James’s Park in London. Mr Symon remained close to the Crown Prince and on the Emperor’s last visit to Britain a few years ago, the Emperor asked at the Foreign Office how the “family of my dear friend, David Symon” were doing as he “still missed him”. Mr Symon and his family arrived again in Tokyo in 1962 for a long tour of duty but sadly Mr Symon passed away in 1964 in Tokyo and the family returned to the UK.
Lyon & Turnbull
May. 13, 2022
YOSA BUSON (JAPANESE 1716-1784) CALLIGRAPHY WITH PAINTING
Est: £800 - £1,200
YOSA BUSON (JAPANESE 1716-1784) CALLIGRAPHY WITH PAINTING 與謝蕪村書法紙本設色立軸 kakejiku, ink and slight colour on paper, signed and sealed (91.5cm x 22.3cm) Qty: (1) Provenance: Old collection of the late David C Symon, thence by descent David C Symon, a Scottish diplomat, raised in Edinburgh, studied at Oxford University, was posted to Japan in 1949-1955 under a scheme by the British Foreign Office following The Second World War. Five young men were sent, Hugh Cortazzi, Sydney Giffard (both to become British Ambassadors to Japan), David Symon, Dick Ellingworth and another. Mr Symon was appointed to the Imperial Court as the British liaison for the then Crown Prince Akihito to prepare him and accompany the Crown Prince to Britain for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. The visit lasted nearly a month. The photograph illustrated here shows the two of them walking the day before the coronation, through St James’s Park in London. Mr Symon remained close to the Crown Prince and on the Emperor’s last visit to Britain a few years ago, the Emperor asked at the Foreign Office how the “family of my dear friend, David Symon” were doing as he “still missed him”. Mr Symon and his family arrived again in Tokyo in 1962 for a long tour of duty but sadly Mr Symon passed away in 1964 in Tokyo and the family returned to the UK.
Lyon & Turnbull
Nov. 04, 2021
Yosa Buson (1716-1784): The Fo
Est: -
Yosa Buson (1716-1784): The Four Arts, Japan, 18th century (Edo period), ink on paper, wooden roller ends, 135 x 33 cm
Historia Auctionata
Mar. 19, 2019
Yosa Buson (1716–1784) Chinese Landscapes and Figures Eleven hanging scrolls; ink on paper 49 ½ x 18 7/8 in. (125.7 x 47.9 cm.) each
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
Yosa Buson (1716–1784) Chinese Landscapes and Figures Signed Shimei or Chora, sealed Shimei, Shimei sanjin, Chora shi, Choso and other seals, and dated 1750 Eleven hanging scrolls; ink on paper 49 ½ x 18 7/8 in. (125.7 x 47.9 cm.) each
Christie's
Sep. 12, 2018
Yosa Buson (1716-1784) Calligraphy Edo period (1615-1868), 18th century
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
Yosa Buson (1716-1784) CalligraphyEdo period (1615-1868), 18th centuryA letter mounted as a hanging scroll, ink on paperWith a wood storage box 10 1/2 x 15in (26.6 x 38.1cm)
Bonhams
Oct. 16, 2017
A Group of Six Japanese Woodblock Prints
Est: $250 - $350
Comprising prints by: Yosa Buson (Japanese 1716 - 1784), a landscape, signed in the plate, numbered C 44, reproduced by The Shimbi Shoin Ltd., Tokyo; Yamaguchi Soken (Japanese 1759 - 1818), depicting a geisha with a cat, signed in the plate, numbered D 25, printed by The Shimbi Shoin Ltd., Tokyo; Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese 1786 - 1865), depicting female kabuki, signed in the plate, published by Yamaguchiya Tobei; Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese 1786 - 1865), part of a triptych titled "The Third Month", signed Toyokuni in the plate; Ogata Gekko (Japanese 1859 - 1920), part of a set titled "Customs and Manners for Women", signed in the plate; Toyohara Kunichika (Japanese 1835 - 1900), depicting women pruning a tree, signed in the plate; all are of unknown editions.
Locati LLC
Feb. 11, 2017
YOSA BUSON (Japanese, 1716-1783). WOMEN AND THEIR TASKS, Ink and color on silk, signed "the sixty-seven years old Sha''in", sealed and
Est: $300 - $500
YOSA BUSON (Japanese, 1716-1783). WOMEN AND THEIR TASKS, Ink and color on silk, signed "the sixty-seven years old Sha''in", sealed and framed. - 18 3/4 in. x 45 in.
Sloans & Kenyon
Oct. 15, 2016
Japanese Woodblock Prints, Buson, Kitaoka, Tokuriki
Est: $200 - $400
(lot of 3) Japanese woodblock prints: Tokuriki Tomikichiro (1902-1999), 'Sanjo Ohashi Bridge'; Kitaoka Fumio (1918-2007), 'Fishing Village', pencil signed, dated 1968; Yosa Buson (1716-1784), depicting mountain scenery in summer, with the signature/seal, largest: 14.25"h x 19.25"w, frame: 22"h x 27.25"
Clars Auctions
Feb. 23, 2013
The drunken scholars
Est: €600 - €720
Japan, 19th cent. Hanging scroll. Ink and colour on silk. Humorous genre scene in the manner of Yosa Buson (1716-1784), inspired by Chinese models. Chinese inscription 'Xie Chunxing' and seal. Caligraphic poem in the upper left. Verso with old German custom's stamp. On paper mounting. Partly with water stains, traces of age. 164,5 x 66,5 cm.
Auktionshaus Stahl
Jun. 17, 2011
YOSA BUSON (Japanese, 1716-1783). Women and Their Tasks, ink and color on paper, signed "the sixty-seven years old Sha'in" and sealed.
Est: $400 - $600
YOSA BUSON (Japanese, 1716-1783). Women and Their Tasks, ink and color on paper, signed "the sixty-seven years old Sha'in" and sealed - Framed, sight: 18 3/4 in. x 45 in.
Sloans & Kenyon
Aug. 25, 2010
SCROLL PAINTING ON PAPER By Yosa Buson (1716-1783). Depicting two figures beneath calligraphy. Signed and seal marked. 34½" x 10¼".
Est: $1,200 - $1,800
SCROLL PAINTING ON PAPER 18th Century By Yosa Buson (1716-1783). Depicting two figures beneath calligraphy. Signed and seal marked. 34 1/2" x 10 1/4".
Eldred's
Dec. 16, 2009
YOSA BUSON (1716-1783)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
YOSA BUSON (1716-1783) A JAPANESE HANGING SCROLL DEPICTING COURTIERS AND POEMS, signed Buson gakyo, sealed Sha Shunsei and another seal ink and slight color on paper 34½ x 10 3/8in. (87.5 x 26.4cm.)
Christie's
Sep. 17, 2009
Yosa Buson (1716-1783)
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Yosa Buson (1716-1783) Courtier and poems Signed Buson gakyo, sealed Sha Shunsei and another seal Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper 34½ x 10 3/8in. (87.5 x 26.4cm.)
Christie's
Sep. 16, 2003
Yosa Buson (1716-1784)
Est: $3,000 - $4,000
Yosa Buson (1716-1784) Seven year-end poems Signed Buson and Yo Buson Hanging scroll; ink on paper 7 7/8 x 11 5/8in. (20 x 29.5cm.)
Christie's
Mar. 24, 2003
Yosa Buson (1716-1784)
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
New Year's Greeting for Kuroyanagi Ikoma Signed Yahan'o and Buson, dated tenth day of the first month Letter mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper 6 1/16 x 21 3/8in. (15.4 x 54.2cm.) NOTES Buson's letter, written at the begining of the new year, includes two haiku. The first one is titled Saitan -- Misoka no yami no kuraki yori (New year's day--from the darkness of the last day of the year). The poem reads Ono ga ha no moji mo yometari hatsugarasu. Buson explains that in ancient times a Chinese wrote a letter on crow's feathers to test Japanese wisdom and sent the letter to someone named Saeki. Saeki was clever and able to read the letter by steaming the crow's feathers in a basket-steamer and pressing paper against them to lift off the ink. The second poem is titled Seibo (Last day of the year). The poem reads Hiiragi sasu hatashiya soto no hamahisashi. Buson explains that there are two opinions about hamahisashi but it is best to understand it as the part of a beach that looks like caves when scooped out by waves.
Christie's