About me

As an artist, collector and entrepreneur, I have always loved both making and sharing beautiful art. My father, Ronald Raaijmakers, was a still-life painter, so art has been part of my world from early on. But Kyotoprints began, above all, with a love story.

Seven years ago I came across a print by Shiro Kasamatsu, Rising Moon at Katase River. It was exactly the right gift for the woman I love and wanted to impress. But the price climbed out of reach, and I had to let it go. It did not let me go. Surely, I thought, I could find someone in Japan who could help me track this print down? The search was long and hard, but I was fed by love, so I persevered. And I found it. It became the perfect gift, one she still enjoys looking at every day. And in the seven years since, that same love has given us something even more precious: a beautiful son.

In that quest for Rising Moon, a bigger idea was born: to bring more of these prints to people who would treasure them. What started as a single search has grown into one of Europe’s largest collections of original Japanese woodblock prints, with works by masters such as Kawase Hasui, Hajime Namiki and Kasamatsu himself, sourced directly from respected Japanese publishers, including Unsodo in Kyoto.

Today, more than 8,000 prints have been sold and shipped from Japan to homes and walls across Europe and far beyond. Every one is an original, carefully packed, fully insured, and shipped worldwide. And behind every order there is still a person: write to us with any question, and you will always get a real answer.

We would love for you to be next. Welcome to Kyotoprints.

With warm regards, Floris Raaijmakers