JAPANESE ENVELOPE FULL OF JAPANESE PRINTS VALUABLE OR SOUVENIR?

I found these at a estate sale I went to last week end in a high end neighborhood & am wondering if they are worth anything or just a souvenir?
1 thing that has me hopeful is the cancellation date on the stamp looks like 1963; so at least they are not brand new!
Thanks, I appreciate any help.

 

These are all cards of prints by Hokusai, one of the most famous Japanese Ukiyo-e artists of the early 19th century. A nice souvenir, but they have yellowed.
Up till ca 1800 most art was for the upper classes, but when the Japanese middle class started to grow and prosper, they wanted art as well, with subjects they liked. Ukiyo-e was developed to be that art. Ukiyo-e were prints meant for the greater public. Ukiyo-e means 'images of a fleeting life', so not important mythological or courtly scenes.
There are probably 36 cards, the 36 views of Mount Fuji, Hokusai's most famous set of works. You will see Mt Fuji on all of them, even if it is only a tiny triangle in the distance.

 

Wonderful information! Thanks - again - Any Jewelry!

 

Pleasure, of course, journey.
His work is still very popular, and many of his prints are used as designs in the West. Check 'The Big Wave of Kanagawa' by Hokusai, you'll see it on t-shirts, mugs, anything really. It is beautiful, and appeals to just about everyone.


Did you take a close look at it, and see the boats and the people so tiny and struggling to get past the wave? Stunning.

 

There's even a Big Wave ukulele by Luna. Beautiful!

 

Wow! If I played the ukulele I would buy that.

 

The colors are lovely . Usually I dont see these so bright.