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The technique of Japanese woodblock prints





One of the readers of this blog has suggested that I add some comments about the context of the Japanese graphic production, which can complement the reading of the interview with the master printer-Ichimura sensei, I settled in days past.
then I post here an excerpt from my book Popular Culture and recorded in Japan, which is specifically about this process.
Thanks thousands for the suggestion. ------------------------------------

One of the most interesting of these "pictures of the floating world" (or ukiyo-e 浮世 絵) is that which revolves around manufacturing. Unlike the contemporary West in which the artist's individuality and their autonomy from the creative process parameters are common in Japan during the Tokugawa era of 徳 川 (1603-1867) the procedures for making engravings had a very high degree of compartmentalization.

First, when we face both an original and a reproduction in a book or catalog, generally found that the authorship of these pieces is attributed to a single individual, ie the e-shi 絵 师(illustrator, who executed the design work.) However, the reality was very different, and that in pursuit of these prints were participating, at least, a number of four individuals, all masters in their field, skilled craftsmen.

The subject around which revolves around the process manufacture of ukiyo-e and who can be considered as the most important protagonist in the creation of these works is the publisher or hanmoto 版 元. First, it was he who had the capital to launch a production of this kind, which no doubt, required a considerable initial investment. As a businessman at last, and is an industry with a strong commercial, was the editor who decided what kind of work to do, in what format, what subject represent (all of this, of course, depending on what the market sue), and what illustrator, what writer and what printer hire.

addition, these editors often were figures that combined all sorts of artists and intellectuals in their workshops, encouraged the formation of creative circles with great vitality, and often most successful productions woodcuts were the result of fruitful debates, tinged with sake and sometimes with agey 扬 屋 (1) as a backdrop. In addition it was they who would deal with after the distribution and sale of these prints. Let

then a hypothetical example of development of these woodcuts:

Once the editor decide what to produce and whom to hire, designer or illustrator ( e-shi) was going to run an outline of the work with brush and ink on paper 美浓 纸 Mino (2) high quality. This outline was discussed with the editor who gave his final approval. In many cases this sketch of the illustrator took notes on the background and colors to use. Finally, he stamped his signature and logo editor. Then he spent to make detailed drawing of the outline. Sometimes this work is made the same illustrator, but in most cases was undertaken by a copyist. This final drawing detailed or hanshita-e 版 下 絵 was executed in ink on thin paper of Mino.

I list the final version of the book, the publisher was responsible for bringing him before the official censor shift (tsuki-gyoji 月 行事 or e-nanushi 絵 名主) who would give his opinion on whether the piece could be published or not. This phase does not include those private or clandestine productions as we can assume circumventing this step. Approved drawing shall be stamped with the seal of approval "that should be officially recorded on the boards.

After this episode, he went to the size of the set of plates or blocks ( hangi 版 木). This work was carried out in the recording studio ( hangi-and 版 木屋) it was decided to hire. Recorder or hori-shi 雕 师 beat the final drawing for the front to a block of cherry wood properly prepared, using a paste of rice. With fingers is removing the bulk of the rear layer of paper stuck to the wood block to be transparent. It is then cut and trimming the piece of wood. This was done by the apprentices of carving workshops, while the most complex and sensitive (such as hands, faces and especially the hair) were the responsibility of the master engraver. Ready

main cue, they proceeded to print the first test or 校 合 Kyoga, which was getting all the contours of the image. This test was carried to the editor who reviewed along with the illustrator. Since it marked the different areas of color and the plates were cut for the colors. An important element in this stage is the 见 当 Kent. The Kent (or record) were brands that were recorded at the top and on the opposite corner of the main block and blocks of color and who let the paper fall just in the right place so that the colors do not run or were mounted color areas with the contours of the image. Complete set of plates they proceeded to print new tests each block to tell the printer color gradation required.

The printer or suri-shi 折 师, was the next teacher would complete this journey. The pigments used in printing these woodcuts were of natural origin, and had no fat base, so its mostly diluent was water. This detail, it causes some difficulties in the current conservative, since many of these colors (especially blue) are fading with the passing of the years, very especially if these items were or are subject to lighting. The best examples that remain today are of works that were stored for many years and now enjoy a proper conservation policy and an effective working museum.

The paper for the final print was made by hand and there was a multiplicity of formats. These formats depended on how the paper was cut and its use was closely related to the type for which he was given the work. Therefore, if the piece was intended for a surimono 刷 物 ideal format would chuba 中 判 (Approx. 26 x 19 cm.), But if it was one of the popular prints of Utamaro women, the format would 大 判 Oban (approx. 38 x 26 cm.) (3) . Other formats were widely used, the hashira-e 柱 絵 (approx. 70 x 12 cm.), The ōōban 大 々 判 (approx. 33 x 65 cm.), The hosoban 细 判 (approx. 33 x 16 cm.) and Aiban 间 判 (approx. 33 x 23 cm.), among others (4) .

Once cut and selected paper format, this was moistened with a kind of varnish called Dosa 矾 水, whose function was to provide greater strength to the role and also help in better fixing of the ink. The application of pigments was done with brushes or brush on the plates depending on the area to be covered. To achieve the color density, especially in the case of black, employed a variety of prints of the same color. This technique known as Urushi-e 漆 絵 (lacquered prints) was widely used for tones that produced a thick black lacquer look, and was exploited particularly in the prints of kabuki actors 歌舞 伎.

Unlike the development of graphics in the West, Japan is not using the press to print a woodcut. Instead they used a small device called a baren 马连, which consisted of a circle of the print holding ropes with his hand, pressing with the back surface of the paper with a circular motion. The print order was first guide plate, ie the contours, and every one of the colors, concluding in many cases with other printing end of the guide plate. As we can see the skill required to successfully and quickly complete these orders (5) required much preparation and delivery by the printer.

addition to these basic procedures for printing, horizontal shi (teacher writer) and the suri-shi (master printer) also developed what we call as "special techniques". These allow further qualification of the work, providing a luxury and refinement in the bill which has often been condemned by the government also shogun. These techniques ranged from the gradation of colors ( bokashi ぼかし), reliefs or watermarks ( karazuri 空 折), the lacquer coating surface spray the pigments to achieve effects such as fog, snow, steam or moisture, and also pulverized kaolin, mica and metal powders.

After this process, the prints were completed and finally at the hands of the publisher who was responsible for sales and distribution through vendors, regular customers or their own store.

These two images show the different stages of the manufacturing process of the ukiyo-e woodblock . The illustrator, Kitagawa Utamaro 喜 多 川 歌 麿, has been replaced by women in these two leaflets to workers original, who were almost always men.

NOTES 1. Citation kind of house where customers ate, drank, and was entertained with the court before leaving the brothel.
2. Area of \u200b\u200bJapan famous for the production of paper.
3. This format was popular and became standard from 1780.
4. See Genshoku ukiyo-e Dai-Jiten Hyakko 原色 浮世 絵 大 百科 事 典. Vol 3. Daishūkan, Tokyo, 1980.
5. These orders, generally ranging between 1000 and 5000 copies.

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The future of traditional printing in Japan





The interview presented here as "article", I have saved for some years, thinking about how and where to publish. I think this blog is the best place to do it.

During my second stay of research in Japan (between 2003 and 2004), in Kyoto, thanks to some good friends who are dedicated to the preservation of the martial arts, and founded the Kenkyu-kai Budō Nicchū 日中 武 道研究 会 (or That is, the Association for the Study of Chinese martial arts and Japanese), I was fortunate to meet Ichimura-sensei 市 村 先生, one of the few traditional printer that keeps printing technique of ukiyo-e 浮世 絵, or Japanese prints . The teacher Ichimura, a very attentive and enthusiastic, has a small factory and shop at the bottom of the well known Kennin-ji Temple 建 仁 寺, one step of the legendary geisha district of Gion 祇 园, in Kyoto. After several visits, and spoken extensively on the peculiarities of his work, agreed to give me an interview to serve as a testimony to the precarious state in which there are many manifestations and traditional techniques in Japan today.

This interview took place on February 6, 2004 in the workshop Ichimura-sensei. I greatly appreciate the time I spent, and the passion for their work and the ukiyo-e. ----------------------------------------




" Why were you interested in this profession? At what age did you start?

is a family profession. I started at 15 years old, since my father died and I had to help my grandfather, who also was a printer.

What are the main levels of learning?

There are many differences in the levels of learning depending on the skills of the person, work pressure, the interests of the teacher. These levels of learning are not fixed, also depend on how printers work different houses. Furthermore, these levels of learning are based on the characteristics of the production itself. For example, a learner is given menial jobs, such as commercial productions (envelopes, postcards, etc..). Also, of course, these levels depend on special techniques such as bokashi ぼかし, which corresponds to a higher level, or karazuri 空 折, which is smaller level. For example, the atenashi bokashi 当てなし ぼかし is one of the most difficult techniques (1) .

How long has the home-ya Ichimura 市 村屋?

home is a relatively recently emerged 昭和 Showa 18 (1944) through the interest of my grandfather Ichimura Fusajiro 市 村 房 次郎 for this profession.

Who was your teacher? What house?

The teacher was my grandfather's house, and Sakakibara 榊 原 屋.

Was this a house of Kyoto? Possibly

Kyoto. There are differences between the houses of Kyoto and Edo 江 戸 (2) . Formerly they had so many influences to each other, but have gradually been permeating and, currently, the technique of Kanto 关 东 (3) has a very high impact.

Is your work has been characterized by some special kind of production?

For production levels, perhaps. Print a large quantity of parts. I am known for being very fast in production, because I can print a large number of prints in a very short time.

"Basically what it produces?

faces I do not make many productions. That is basically what the people responsible. Never bypass tooling 大 判 Oban (4) . Today, demand is down, but once in special events produced a large number of prints.

What is the current status of the production of prints?

have lost much strength the former publishers, writers and printers. Not much chance of working on this field, and many people leave, as well as boys do not care. Many go to Tokyo, and sometimes this can only work seasonally. Unfortunately has been disappearing from people who know, and knowledge and practice of art has been lost. On the other hand, there are serious problems with the teaching of traditional culture in schools. There are places where we learn and preserve these techniques, even in universities. It's something that has to be learned for years in printing houses, which have also disappeared. Therefore, today the majority did not reach levels of achievement, nor is the domain that is achieved by learning "for real". He that is taught in art schools is very superficial.

Approximately how many traditional printers are in Kyoto and Japan?

There is an association for the protection of the art (5) , formed by those who still maintain. We are about 100 people nationwide, and some do not work exclusively in the ukiyo-e style. Now, keep in mind that this figure includes recorders and printers together ...! In the case of Kyoto, only 40 people who are dedicated to this.

What is the response of young people?

Young people usually prefer simple jobs, and not interested in receiving our teachings, they want to work alone. In addition, most are not interested in this. There are some who are interested, curious, even try to do something, but do not want to go deeper, and do not want to spend years struggling and needed, therefore, not engage in this work. Currently, the youngest person in Kyoto that is dedicated to this and is over 30 years, and I am one of the oldest here.

What is the future of this technique?

has no future, it will disappear. Of I consider that it is already disappearing. Mechanization and automation are destroying it. Furthermore, it is also producing for tourists is more commercial and therefore looking for solutions easier, and avoids the more complex jobs and technical skills and time involved that characterized the earlier productions (paradoxically commercial), and are the they just raised the status of this event. In the case of the Ichimura-house and that is my own line, it will disappear when I die, since I have no disciples.


NOTES 1. Bokashi is the technique to achieve the gradation of colors in print; karazuri, watermark technique for relief printing without ink; atenashi bokashi, color gradation without use of record in the block, or plate, printing.
2. Edo, the ancient name of present-day Tokyo.
3. Geographical area of \u200b\u200bthe island of Honshu 本州, where is located the city of Tokyo.
4. Oban print format, approximately 38 x 26 cm.
5. This association has about 25 years of being founded. The exhibitions of its members only make money when they can gather, the last was held in 1998.

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Festivals fertility in Japan today

More than a note, I put here a visual report of some of the festivals and places linked to the fertility cults in Japan I found in my research stays. Unfortunately, today these festivals are increasingly scarce. According to some researchers, this type of celebration, intended to serve as a means of atonement for good harvests, as well as for human fertility and the community, began to disappear, especially in the early 明治 Meiji era (1868-1912) on behalf European criticism against this type of holiday, and open attitudes toward sexuality.

These festivals, which were held largely in rural and urban communities (minor), also functioned as a temporary space for sexual initiation, or joints that could leave the framework of the "allowed" to be also a time of renewal, of excesses, "Carnival."

These first two images are of sites where the fertility cult, in this case phallic still has a presence and important role. The left image corresponds the Taga shrine 多 贺 神社, in the city of Uwajima 宇 和 岛, on the island of Shikoku 四 国. This shrine, dedicated mainly to the male principle, also houses an interesting museum of objects and images relating to sex cults seishin 性 神, and many other more mundane examples of Japanese sexual life. The museum in question, Dekoboko 凸凹 神堂 Shindo, is perhaps the only place of its kind in Japan. On the other hand, the right picture for the pilgrimage circuit of Mount Misen 弥 山 on block of Myajima 宫 岛 (広 島 Hiroshima Prefecture). The site was one of the privileged by the monks of the Shingon school 真言, or Tantric variant of Japanese Buddhism.

The four pictures below correspond to the feminine principle shrines (Jinja Ogata 大 县 神社) and the male principle ( 田 Tagata Jinja县 神社), both on the outskirts of the city of Inuyama 犬 山 (Aichi Prefecture 爱 知), one of the few places where they still celebrate festivals each spring fertility. You see, both have plenty of paraphernalia related to male and female genitals, whether the natural objects whose shape resembles, or made by human hands.

Finally, the last three images correspond to the festival of fertility (male principle) held in the spring of 2004 at the Tagata Shrine in the city of Inuyama.

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The "erotic" and the image of women in Japan Picasso and modern shunga

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Thanks to a colleague and friend from Spain, who sent me this information a few minutes ago, here are two links I put on an exhibition that just opened yesterday at the Museu Picasso in Barcelona on production of Picasso's erotic Japanese prints and shunga .
Picasso, like many other painters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, owned a small collection of shunga (which is also displayed in the sample) that stored and used as a source for much of his erotic work.
The title of the exhibition, "Imatges secretes (secret picture), comes from higa 秘 画, one of the terms by which shunga met in Japan during the second half of the nineteenth century and much of the XX, mostly. This term also was strongly associated with controls that were exercised in those years on the production of Japanese erotic prints, under the pretext of being considered obscene ( waisetsu 猥亵), at a time of Victorian puritanism import to Japan, and the need to appear before the world as a nation "civilized" modern.
It is therefore important to prepare a more comprehensive post on the impact of Japanese prints (especially shunga) in the European context decomonónico and Japanese. I promise that I will hang before the end of the month.
English Television News
Official Website

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The vampire laughs ... and more than Suehiro Maruo





insert here a post that sent me Emilio García Montiel last night and prepared especially to complement the presentation of Suehiro Maruo that appeared this week in this blog.
grateful for this collaboration to Emilio, who also specializes in the history of Japanese architecture and urbanism, especially in the city of Tokyo.

( NOTE : Although the most commonly found on the web, and in many publications, the name of Maruo Suehiro is 丸 尾 末 広, ie using the simplified variant of the ideogram "hiro" 広 is very common also written with the non-simplified, 广, or 丸 尾 末 广). ----------------------------------



vampire's smile: a note on the presentation of history.

By Emilio Garcia Montiel

NOTE: Read the dialogues of the pictures from right to left.

In your previous post on Suehiro Maruo 丸 尾 末 広, you mean the era that reveled in his works, especially the Taisho 大 正. The context that opens vampire's smile 笑う 吸血鬼 (1) , the Great Disaster of Kanto 关 东 大 震灾, is perhaps the climax of that era: the earthquake that devastated cities of Tokyo 东京 and Yokohama 横 浜, on the morning of September 1, 1923, and would lead to a new image of modern Japan through the subsequent reconstruction of Tokyo. A process embedded in the short-lived liberal social policy and known as "Taisho democracy" 大正 デモクラシイ (2) and Edward Seidensticker dubbed "the happy days reconstruction " (3) . Maruo, however, not only contextualizes the story in the destruction caused by the earthquake, moment for the theft of bodies from the demon character, but also within the environment of xenophobia and nationalism. Hidden behind the confusion of the disaster, the government began almost immediately, a ruthless crackdown on the one hand, against the Korean population in Tokyo, which arbitrarily accused of having poisoned the water in the city, on the other, against main opposition Socialists.

The scenario is 浅 草 Asakusa district, which Harunosuke Ishizumi 石 角 春 之 助 defined as the "gut Tokyo 东京 肠, a concept mentioned by Yoshimi Shun'ya 吉 见 俊 哉 Dramaturgy in the city. Tokyo: The Social History of the sakariba , to refer, among other topics, the density of all kinds of cultural interactions that were "processed" there since the early modern period in 1868 (4) . In fact, Asakusa had not only reinforced his status as the main sakariba 盛り場 (5) of the city, provided that during the Edo period had shared with the nearby neighborhood of 両 国 Ryogoku, Sumida River east 墨 田 川. By the time of the earthquake, Asakusa was a district of workers, immigrants and "discrimination" (6) , and behind them stood the famous Yoshiwara area 吉 原 prostitution. During the second half of the nineteenth century, especially in Asakusa Park, which is exactly the space that appears in the comic-and sixth district in the neighborhood famous (7) had been concentrated, successfully, theaters popular modern, fair, circus, storytellers, prostitution, geisha , and all kinds of exhibition spaces and artifacts, play and leisure, traditional and modern Japanese and Westerners, with their "mysteries", "phenomena" and "Wonderland" . That is, much of all that the modern Japanese government, hypocritically trying to give uncompromising image of Japan as "civilized," defined as "immoral" and "barbaric customs of the past." A world "other" or a kind of underworld, especially for the purposes of modernizing the country, where it is not difficult to locate, even in its potential social connotations-the demonic character of the story.

For the conditions of overcrowding, Asakusa was one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, which was used by the government during the reconstruction to turn it off permanently as the first sakariba Tokyo by favoring the recovery of other areas closer to the middle class and salary man and its production as a purely modern sakariba . This does not mean that Asakusa change his mind, but all those functions were channeled into areas of greater control and minimized with respect to the attractiveness of an era of globalization on culture, consumption and entertainment spaces was played as 银座 Ginza district of Tokyo-first reconstructed according to Western standards in 1877 - , which eventually would become the first sakariba Tokyo.

A discerning reader will wonder how it follows the story-as it does not say so, "the reference to the Great Disaster and the Kanto district of Asakusa. The key, among other details, is in the building which is broken: the Jūnikai 十二 阶 or "Asakusa Twelve floors." Built by William K. English Barton and opened in 1890, not only was the tallest structure in Tokyo, but his first "skyscraper" and the building as well, where ordinary citizens could see for the first time, the city as the crow flies. It was an exhibition space and sale of goods from across Asia, where it worked the first elevator in Japan and became the architectural symbol of the city until the day of the earthquake. Without counting the notes of the dress, the clock-time the earthquake occurred near the noon-o's own illustrations of the dimensions of the disaster, Jūnikai match up to the eighth floor is in the history of visuality Tokyo, one of the recurring images to evoke the 1923 earthquake.

NOTES 1. Suehiro Maruo vampire's smile , Glenat, Barcelona, \u200b\u200b2002. Original edition: 丸 尾 末 広. 『 笑う 吸血鬼 』. 东京, 秋田 书店, 2000.
2. The Taisho period covers from 1912 to 1926. Personally, I will extend this period of relative liberality to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, in 1931 in the first decade of the Showa period 昭和 (1926-1989).
3. Seidensticker, Edward. Tokyo Rising. The City Since the Great Earthquake . Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo, 1991, Chapter 2 ("Happy Days Reconstruction), pp. 21-87. [The issue that appears in the link is not exactly the same reference].
4. Yoshimi, Shun'ya 吉 见 俊 哉. Toshi doramaturugī not. Tokyo: sakariba no shakai-shi 都市 の ドラマトゥる ぎ ー. 东京 盛 り 場 の 社会 史 (Drama of the city. Tokyo: social history of the sakariba). Tokyo Kōbundō, 1987, p.209.
5. The term sakariba can be defined as areas of greatest concentration of cultural interaction within the city, which goes to enjoy restaurants, cinemas, bars, department stores, sexual services, and any number of bids. This tempered by an environment, excellence, ludicrous.
6. Fundamentally, eta 秽 多 and hinin 非人. Although generally located under the concept of burakumin 部落 民, or discriminated minorities, the first was a segregated social sector jobs carry "dirty" as the slaughter of animals or handling dead bodies, the second covering the guards or janitors, but also those related to the business of entertainment, in the case of Asakusa, had been instrumental in the production and development of the field.
7. The so-called Asakusa Park was an area without building that, like other areas in Tokyo was named as such (in this case in 1882) to appear in Tokyo, like other Western capitals had parks, but at that time was not a park, let alone a park on the western style. To urban reform was carried out in 1888, Asakusa was internally zoned for the purpose of controlling both economically the area, as "clean up" after giving it an image in keeping with what was intended for what should be the capital of a modern state. The sixth of that zoning district was reserved for the business of entertainment.