There are a great many loevly woodblock prints on Ebay, many from exceptional artsists. I can only speak definitively on Hasui Kawase but my warning is probably applicable to most other non-comtemporary woodblcok print artists. The prints you see on Ebay are very very very unlikely to be originals despite what the seller tells you. I was suprised to see so many absolutely perfect Hasui prints on Ebay. I asked a seller about their auhenticity and the seller said that of course, they are real, that no one could go through the time and effort to reproduce woodblock prints. I emailed back that this was not true and recieved no further email from the seller. It is, in fact, not the case. In Kyoto, Japan the Kyoto Handicraft Center has been working hard to keep the dying art of woodblock alive. They do so by training artists to cut woodblocks of famous artsits and these prints are sold at the Kyoto Handicraft Center for about $200. They are made off handcarved woodblocks, absolutely beautiful prints and the skill level is impressive. They are indeed pieces are art but they are not originals. I suspect sellers may be getting, at least their higher end fakes here.

I lived in Kyoto for four years and it has a thriving art market. I can tell you that finding a Hasui in Kyoto, the most likely place to find one, was very hard. I could locate one or two originals and they were in the shape you would expect them to be for their age. They did not look anything like these pristine $400 prints for sale on Ebay.

For excellent reproductions, give your money to the artists, not the scam artsists on Ebay. e-loec dot com is the company that works with the Kyoto Handicraft Center.