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could be mixed to achieve a multitude of other hues. The introduction of Prussian blue in the eighteenth century had a great impact on Japanese landscape prints, especially those of the famed print artists Utagawa Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai.

      Each pigment was applied to the blocks by the printers with a unique Japanese brush called a hake. It looks much like a Western-style scrubbing brush except the hairs come from the tail of a live horse. Once inserted into the wooden handle, the hairs are shredded on the surface of a dried shark’s fin. The hairs in a horse’s tail are hollow and the shredding leaves about a quarter of the hairs intact. When the brush is used to apply pigment, it is first dipped in water and then inserted into the pigment. Pressing down on the brush allows the water to mix with the pigment and flow evenly on the block. The block is dampened evenly with water, taking care to avoid any pooling or puddles. The care that the printer takes in making sure there is no excess ink or color adjacent to the cutting line is most important. The moistened paper is then gently laid down upon the inked surface of the block for printing, making sure that it is aligned with the registration marks carved into the blocks.

      Traditional Japanese paper used in printmaking has a very long history in Japan. Originally developed in the first century in China, it found its way into Japan directly from China and also via Korea. The qualities of Chinese paper are extremely appealing. As a painter, I have used both kanshi (Chinese paper) and washi (Japanese paper). However, the paper used for woodblock printing needs strength to resist the strong pressures applied to it. It also has to be absorbent, flexible and stable when dampened for printing. The techniques and materials developed in Japan were found to be the most suitable for the woodblock printing process.

      The three main papers used are kozo, gampi and mitsumata. Kozo, a generic name for three different types of mulberry trees that are grown as farm crops, is the most widely used. Trees two years or older have qualities in their bark and leaf structure which make them most suitable for the production of paper. The fiber produced is long, flexible and strong. Gampi paper is generally harvested from the wild in southern parts of Japan and is therefore relatively scarce. It is strong, translucent and thin, with a silky quality. Mitsumata, in the same family as gampi, is hardier and takes longer to grow but is expensive. Paper making in Japan is a study in itself, and beyond the scope of this book. But without the correct quality of paper available to the publisher, printmaking would never have succeeded.

      The printers used a special pad called a baren to press or burnish the paper against the inked woodblock, thus applying the designs and colors from the woodblocks onto the paper (Figs. 24, 25). A disk-like pad about 15 cm in diameter that fits into the palm of the hand, with a flat bottom and on the reverse side a knotted handle, the baren is composed of a core (shin) of cord twisted from straw and/or bamboo fiber and arranged in a tight spiral, placed on a backing disk (ategawa) and wrapped in a cover (kawa) formed from a tightly wound and twisted bamboo sheath. Baren of differing thicknesses and cord fibers are used to achieve variable pressures during printing. Today, baren can be purchased. Like anything else, the finest quality is very expensive, but once bought and properly cared for can last a lifetime. The craftsman I worked with made his own baren using age-old methods. For example, he made the ategawa by gluing a sheet of minogami paper every day for 100 days onto a cylindrical block of wood. The grain of the paper was reversed every day. After the pad was completely dry, he covered it with a thin sheet of gauze brushed with black lacquer and then trimmed around the edges.

      FIG. 25

      Holding the baren in the proper position

      Author’s Collection

      FIG. 26

      An original key block

      (39 x 27 cm) from a drawing by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), which was a kawaraban (newsletter) inviting people to join in the festival of carrying the mikoshi (portable shrine). The amount of work that went into the carving is remarkable. It is a wonderful example of the carver’s craft.

      Courtesy of Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints

      FIG. 27

      Close-up of the same block

      Courtesy of Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints

      FIG. 28

      Monochrome print pulled from the block

      Author’s Collection

      FIG. 29

      Utagawa HIROSHIGE

      広重 (1797–1858)

      Horikiri Iris Garden, from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo 堀切の花菖蒲 (1857)

      Bokashi gradation technique, 39 x 27 cm

      Courtesy of Mita Arts Gallery

      In this series, Hiroshige showed his mastery of space by clearly distinguishing the foreground, middle ground and background. The flowers in the foreground are the main focus. The iris to the left is so close it becomes cropped. A closer examination of the print reveals young women in the middle ground and other figures further back. The design is simply marvelous, and is enhanced by the printer’s talent in the bokashi technique, as exemplified by the gradation of pink to white in the main iris, and the treatment of the sky. The light blue sky fades into a pink horizon, which is reflected in the water, before eventually turning dark blue along the upper border.

      Apart from skill with the baren, printers developed other techniques for enhancing the color quality of prints. One such technique is bokashi, the shading or gradation in the depth of a color that is accomplished by careful applications of pigment and water mixed on the block with the hake brush (Figs. 29, 30, 32). The baren is carefully applied to allow one or two colors to fade into each other. This is most apparent in the landscapes of Hiroshige and Hokusai, but can also be observed in the soft pinks seen on the cheeks of beauties and in the softness around the folds of the eyes, especially in the prints of the later part of the eighteenth century (Fig. 31).

      Print sizes are always created to the specific woodblocks cut for the purposes of printing the pictures. The most common print sizes are, however, aiban, chuban and o-ban. Many print dealers refer to the sizes of their prints by name rather than by precise measurements.

      Aiban, 34.5 x 22.5 cm. Half of the paper size called kobosho (see Baioban below) has been called ainishiki.

      Bai-oban, 45.7 x 34.5 cm. Full size kobosho. Quite a few “primitives” are this size.

      Chuban, 25.5 x 19 cm. One quarter of an o-bosho. Often used by Harunobu, Kiyonaga, Eishi, etc.

      Chu-tanzaku, 38 x 12.7 cm. Half of an o-ban, cut lengthwise.

      Hashira-e, 73 x 12 cm. Pillar prints, a narrow, upright format usually on two sheets pasted together either before or after printing.

      Hosoban, 33 x 14.3 cm. Also called hose-e. Most of the Katsukawa actor prints are this size.

      Hoso-e, see Hosoban.

      Kaku-surimono, 21.3 x 18 cm. Used for square surimono. This size is sometimes called shikishiban.

      Kakemono-e. Tall and wide prints, much wider than a hashira-e.

      Koban, 22.8 x 17.2 cm. Half of an aiban, on which two designs were usually printed at a time.

      Ko-tanzaku, 34.5 x 7.6 cm. One-third of an aiban upright.

      Mameban. Any print smaller than a ko-yotsugiri. They vary considerably in size.

      Mitsugiri, 25.5 x 12.8 cm. One-third of an o-ban but divided horizontally the other way from tanzaku.

      Naga-oban,

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