Gallery 1: The Woodblock Printing Process

The technique of woodblock printing developed during the Edo period (1603-1868) of Japan. The traditional approach to printing involved a collaboration of publisher, artist, carver, and printer. The publisher employed the artist to produce images that were considered marketable. The artist created a preparatory sketch of a design and then made corrections and alterations as needed by adding additional pieces of paper. Then an assistant or block cutter would copy the image on paper with black ink which was then pasted to a block of cherry wood. The carver would then cut away all but the lines. From this carved block multiple images were printed in black, one for each intended color in the print. These were then pasted to additional blocks of wood and the blocks carved away to leave only the area for the intended color. The printers inked the blocks and sequentially added the colors by pressing the paper against the different blocks and rubbing from the back with a baren. This resulted in the gradual build up of a multicolor image.

Following the opening of Japan in 1858, Westerners became intrigued with Japanese woodblocks. As interest in woodblock prints waned in Japan, publishers began to print reproductions of traditional Ukiyo-e (Floating World) prints for this new market, including sets of miniature print series, postcards, and prints tipped into greeting cards.

This gallery includes items in the collection that illustrate aspects of the woodblock printing process for miniature Japanese woodblock prints.

Carved Woodblocks

This is a complete set of carved woodblocks for a miniaturized reproduction of a print depicting Kanagawa which is similar, but not identical, to the image of Kanagawa in the most famous of the many Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō  series by Utagawa Hiroshige. The print was published by the Takamizawa Colour Print Studio in Tokyo. Separate blocks were carved for each color, although a block might be used for several colors if areas were sufficiently separate from each other. Colors could also be laid on top others to produce different shades or depth of color. The colors indicated for the blocks below are based on pigment that still remains on the blocks. The carvers used both sides of the block in order to use the cherry wood most economically. This set of blocks has been reworked, as evidenced by the inserted plugs for the title and signature (Hiroshige ga), the addition of the frame, and the addition of the kento marks which would have normally appeared directly on the key block.

The woodblock below is probably for a book page that would have been printed in black.

A Carved Block for the Printing of a Senjafuda

Carved Block for a Medicine Label

Stages of printing of a design by Kawase Hasui

Eventually publishers began to offer woodblock printed albums that demonstrated the woodblock printing process itself. These albums often showed the process of reproducing images from the Edo period. However, publishers also produced books showing the production of then contemporary Shin Hanga (New Print) artists such as Kawase Hasui and Tsuchiya Koitsu.

The images below are from a 1954 print process book of the print Edogawa (The Edo River) by the Publisher Doi. Curiously, the introduction to the book states that the print is by Tsuchiya Koitsu but the image is one by Kawase Hasui. Doi produced woodblock process books of Koitsu images so this appears to be an example of a mismatched text page to a set of prints.

The book format presents an image of the the color being added at each stage of the printing process which is matched with how the images is developing. This gallery rearranges the images in two sections. The first section show just the image that would be produced if the various blocks were printed alone. This is followed by the prints that demonstrate the sequential development of the print as each color is added.

The prints below show how the image would progressively develop as each color was added.

The Process of Woodblock Printing as Illustrated by Katsuhira Tokushi

Katsuhira Tokushi was a Sōsaku-hanga  (creative prints) artist who was also part of the folk art movement. As a Sōsaku-hanga artist, he cut the blacks and printed the woodblock prints himself in addition to creating the designs. He produced the following album of woodblock prints to illustrate the progressive development of a print. The image is of two children making a yukidaruma (snow daruma). The wooden paddles that the children are holding are yukibera and are referenced in the title which roughly translates to “Snow Spades”.

Katsuhira also designed and self-published this additional account of the woodblock printing technique from the perspective of a Sosaku Hanga artist.

Below are uncut sheets of a pochibukuro (money envelopes) set. These would have been cut apart and assembled into envelopes. These pochibukuro show the kabuki family actors Ichikawa Danjuro I through IX in roles that they they made famous in the Jūhachiban (eighteen best kabuki plays). The generations depicted are (left to right) Ichikawa Danjuro I; III; II on the top and Ichikawa Danjuro IV; VII; V on the bottom. Another sheet would have depicted Ichikawa Danjuro VI, VIII, and IX. In contrast to the other portraits, the depiction of Ichikawa Danjuro I is in the Torii syle.

These are examples of uncut sheets of woodblock printed matchbox labels. The left print has the name Nagao, likely the sponsor who commissioned them, The fan prints depict summer flowers. The name on these prints, Oda, also is likely to be that of the sponsor.