Japanese woodblock print, 1974, first and only edition published by Yoshio Okada, dated and numbered 99/100 in pencil in the lower margin, printed by Watanabe

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 17.5 x 13 inches

COMMENTS: Just a few auctions ago, we thought we'd seen the last of Surfer Girl, because back in the oughts we had bought out the edition from the publisher, Shoichiro Watanabe, and our last copy was sold. However, our Japanese consignor has turned up a choice copy of Okada's beauty. A rare and sensual design showing a Japanese beauty (bijin) in a red bikini surfing on a wave styled after Hokusai. "Surfer Girl" is Okada's best-known and most sought-after design. Published in 1974 in an editon of only 100, it is now rarely found.

YOSHIO OKADA (1934-2020) produced a number of prints in the mid-1970s and early 1980s and then seems to have abruptly left the Japanese print world. He is well known for his Genji Monogatari designs that were commissioned by a Japanese newspaper to accompany a serialized version of the story written by the well-known writer Tanabe Seiko. It ran on Sundays for a year, and when it was done, the illustrations and story were published in book form.

Fine, no flaws