History and Development of Woodblock Printing in Japan
– Woodblock printing was invented in China under the Tang Dynasty.
– It migrated to Japan in the late 700s.
– The Empress Kōken commissioned one million small wooden pagodas with woodblock scrolls in 764.
– Buddhist temples in Japan produced printed books of sutras and mandalas in the 11th century.
– Printing was mainly restricted to the Buddhist sphere due to cost and lack of a literate market.
– The Saga-bon was one of the earliest works produced on a movable type press in Japan.
– A Western-style movable type printing press was brought to Japan in 1590 but discontinued after the ban on Christianity in 1614.
– The Confucian Analects was printed in 1598 using a Korean movable type printing press.
– Tokugawa Ieyasu established a printing school in Kyoto in 1599.
– Honami Kōetsu and Suminokura Soan created woodblock versions of Japanese classics in the late 16th century.
– Ukiyo-e, depicting secular subjects, became popular from the 17th to the 19th century.
– Ukiyo-e influenced European Japonisme and Impressionism.
– Suzuki Harunobu developed multicolor woodblock printing called nishiki-e.
– Hokusai and Hiroshige are famous ukiyo-e artists.
– Yoshitoshi’s depictions influenced later Japanese literature and anime.
– Woodblock printing continued as a method for printing texts and producing art.
– Shin-hanga fused ukiyo-e with Western painting techniques.
– Artists like Hasui Kawase and Hiroshi Yoshida gained international popularity.
– Institutes like the Adachi Institute of Woodblock Prints continue to produce ukiyo-e prints.
– The practice of woodblock printmaking evolved to align with modern Japanese taste.
– Publishing houses like Tsuta-ya arose and grew, publishing books and single-sheet prints.
– Ownership of woodblocks constituted a form of copyright.
– Plays were adopted and adapted by competing theaters.
– After the decline of ukiyo-e, woodblock printing continued in traditional and modern forms.
– The Nippon Sōsaku Hanga Kyōkai was founded in 1918, synthesizing traditional Japanese painting with Western aesthetics.
Technique and Evolution of Woodblock Printing
– Woodblock printing process
– Use of graphical perspective and printed color
– Printing texts and images
– Materials used in woodblock printing
– Tools used in woodblock printing
– Introduction of multiple colors
– Use of glue to thicken ink
– Use of lacquer in paintings
– Use of multiple blocks for complex images
– Registration marks for precise application of each block
Schools and Movements in Woodblock Printing
– Torii school
– Kaigetsudō school
– Katsukawa school
– Kawamata school
– Hokusai school
Print Sizes in Woodblock Printing
– Koban (small)
– Aiban (intermediate)
– Bai-ōban (intermediate)
– Chūban (medium)
– Hashira-e (pillar print)
Related Information and Resources
– List of ukiyo-e terms
– List of art techniques
– Asian Art, Department of. Art of the Pleasure Quarters and the Ukiyo-e Style. Metropolitan Museum of Art
– The Past, Present and Future of Printing in Japan. Izumi Munemura. (2010). The Surface Finishing Society of Japan. Source URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodblock_printing_in_Japan
