Yoshitomo Nara Universal Soldier Etching, Atelier C-126 Calendar 2004 Sheet, Offered as Hand-Signed, 131/400
Yoshitomo Nara Universal Soldier Etching, Atelier C-126 Calendar 2004 Sheet, Offered as Hand-Signed, 131/400
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- Vereinigte Staaten · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $616, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Character
- QuietResplendent Scoring underway ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Where each figure is taken · View the plate
Print, painting and frame
Condition report
Excellent8.5 / 10
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
A Small Soldier Among Friends
One sheet, one year, a studio of artists each given a few centimetres of copper. Nara answers with a child in a flowered helmet, a pocket-sized emblem of his gentle defiance.
Best for: Collectors of Nara intaglio prints and of Japanese printmaking studio editions
Condition notes
Described as good and close to unused; clean paper and crisp plate marks, with slight handling waviness possible at the edges.
Assessed from photographs and descriptionReport dated 13 November 2026
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
Freight piece: please confirm delivery before purchase
This piece travels in a crate or by freight rather than standard mail, and may need careful dismantling before it can be packed. The shipping shown at checkout is an estimate. Japonista reserves the right to determine the final handling, crating and freight cost when your order is received, according to the piece, the destination and carrier conditions at that time.
We advise requesting a delivery quote before checkout. If the final cost is higher than the amount paid, we send the difference for your approval before dispatch. Your piece is held for you until it is settled.
Questions about delivery? Write to the curator deskVerfügbarkeit für Abholungen konnte nicht geladen werden
All sales are final. Please read our refund policy before purchase.
Examined in Tokyo, one price, insured to your door. How buying from Japonista works · Join the Circle, free
A single large sheet printed for 2004 by the printmaking studio of Tokyo University of the Arts, carrying a small round etching by Yoshitomo Nara of a girl in a flowered helmet beside plates by fellow artists. Offered as hand-signed by each artist and numbered 131/400.
The Piece
Atelier C-126 is the intaglio studio at Tokyo University of the Arts, and its annual calendar is a quiet institution among print collectors in Japan. Each year a group of artists connected with the studio contributes one small copperplate, and all the plates are printed together on one sheet of heavy paper around a discreet calendar in green type.
The 2004 edition is the one most sought after, because of the plate in the upper left corner. Within a circular plate mark, printed in a warm reddish brown, a child looks out from under a helmet decorated with flowers and a small tree, ringed by the words Universal Soldier. It is a compact statement of the gentle defiance that runs through Nara’s work of those years, and it is described as signed in pencil beneath the image.
Around it are plates in gold, indigo, sky blue, vermilion and black by painters and printmakers including Gyoji Nomiyama, Koji Kinutani, Tadayoshi Nakabayashi and Tetsuya Noda, each with a pencil signature below. Ten plates are visible on the sheet.
Details
- Artist: Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959), with fellow artists of the studio
- Title: Atelier C-126 Calendar 2004
- Nara plate: Girl in a flowered helmet, lettered Universal Soldier
- Medium: Copperplate prints on heavy wove paper, as described
- Edition: Offered as numbered 131/400 in pencil
- Signatures: Offered as hand-signed in pencil by each artist
- Sheet size: 52.8 x 70.5 cm (20.8 x 27.8 in)
- Presentation: Unframed sheet
- Publisher: Tokyo University of the Arts, printmaking studio
Condition
- Described as in good condition and close to unused; the paper is clean and the plate marks are crisp in the photographs.
- Slight handling waviness at the sheet edges is to be expected of an unframed work on paper.
Condition grade A (excellent) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
The signatures and edition number are given as described by the present custodian, an established gallery that offers the sheet as authentic; a team of curators at the Desk reviews the piece before dispatch. Frame behind UV-filtering glazing with acid-free mounts, and keep away from direct sunlight.
Delivery from Japan
Shipped from Japan flat between rigid boards, never rolled, insured and tracked, with freight quoted individually by our Tokyo, Japan concierge team. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything you wish to know before you buy, and see our published policy.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. Pieces over $1,000 may be reserved over several payments with Layaway Privilege™.
Continue with more works by Yoshitomo Nara, or the latest arrivals.
Yoshitomo Nara
Looking for a similar piece, a different size or a particular reference? Our Hunting Salon™ locates it across Japan’s private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers it to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
Collectors also search: Yoshitomo Nara etching · Nara Universal Soldier print · Atelier C-126 calendar 2004 · Nara signed copperplate · Tokyo University of the Arts print

Chosen for you
