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      Fig. 81 Eisen (1790-1848)."Eight Scenes of Edo-Ryōgoku Bridge Reflected in the Evening Sun," wood-block print, ca. 1844. Photo courtesy Mita Arts Gallery.

      Hiroshige (1797-1858) did all kinds of prints, including bijin (beauties) and actors, but became famous for his "53 Stations of the Tōkaidō" series. He had a special talent for depicting man in a sensitive, poetic relationship to the landscape. His countryside had a lyrical beauty marking it out from every other. Hiroshige etched pictures of rural Japan into the minds of Westerners. His overall production was huge, so is still available to modest collectors. Prices are rising and will continue to do so because Hiroshige is an artist with a wonderful imagination and eye. Gentler than Hokusai, he added a poetic softness which endears him to all.

      Ukiyo-e's Decline and Fall

      Eizan and Eisen are good artists of the early nineteenth century; both teacher and pupil were talented at bijin. Toyokuni was a prolific printmaker and collector of pupils (their names fill pages) whom readers will find in quantity in antique shops, such as his pupil Kuniyoshi who had a strong imagination, seen for example in his "Musashino Subduing a Whale."

      Toyokuni II made some memorable prints, such as the "Eight Famous Views" print of a mountain temple where the rain plays a heroic role. Kunisada (later dubbed Toyokuni III) is an affordable and attractive artist-hence more likely to appear in a collection than pre-1800 artists. Though Kunitora is not so well known, a personal favorite is a print, "Lingering Snow on Mt Hira,'' from his "Eight Views of Ōmi" series.

      After the 1860s, traditional printmaking began to lose some of its impetus and the colors also began to change with the introduction of new chemical pigments from Germany. There was a great vogue for the equivalent of horror movies: gory scenes, massacres, and ghosts! The leader, Yoshitoshi, specialized in bloodthirsty, demonic pictures. One famous but gruesome woodblock print (Fig. 93) shows a very pregnant woman hung upside down and a man about to slash her open.

      Kiyochika (1847-1915) was an all-rounder who had a poetic eye like Hiroshige, and is generally considered the last real ukiyo-e artist and perhaps first modern print artist. He made many Tokyo street scenes, including imports like railways-very popular in the 1870s and 1880s. He is also remembered for battlefront pictures of the Sino- and Russo-Japanese Wars of 1895-1905, which endow the scenes with an unexpected soft beauty.

      Fig.82 Yoshitora (1830-87),"British Man," woodblock print, 1861. Photo courtesy Mita Arts Gallery.

      Fig. 83 Sadahide (1807-73),"Walking the Dog," woodblock print, 1860. Photo courtesy Mita Arts Gallery.

      Foreigners in Prints

      The existence of the Dutch trading post on Dejima, Nagasaki, had allowed the entry of European subject matter such as ships, techniques like etching and perspective, and even for two months in 1818, a Dutchwoman, Mrs Blomhoff, and the nanny for her son.

      A few print publishers emerged from the 1740s offering Nagasaki prints of Dutchmen and their Javanese servants, Dutch ships, and pictures of Nagasaki Harbor. The work was inbred, with little new to offer, but occasional excitement, such as the arrival of a Russian fleet in 1853, augmented the repertoire. Nevertheless, many Japanese artists went to Nagasaki to study "Dutch learning" (rangaku) which included art techniques like perspective and sciences like botany and anatomy.

      This confrontation with foreign learning brought about radical change, immensely broadening the scope of Shiba Kōkan, Aōdō Denzen, and Hiraga Gen'nai. In a history of Japanese painting and prints, these are important names but they are not usually collectible because of money and rarity; ordinary Nagasaki prints are affordable, though few appear on the market.

      Although Western learning had seeped into Japan from Nagasaki for two and a half centuries, the Nagasaki tradition petered out-or moved to Yokohama-after the treaty ports were opened. Perhaps one could mention, as similar, the prints of the locomotives connecting Osaka and Kobe by Konobu and others, or Tokyo and Yokohama in the 1870s.

      The arrival of Westerners brought new buyers and subjects like Yokohama prints, with their emphasis on strange foreign buildings (like banks), customs and inventions, but also new publications such as papers and magazines. These and cameras gradually took over the role of ukiyo-e, though newspapers sometimes asked ukiyo-e artists for illustrations.

      Fig. 84 Hironobu (fl.1851-70),"Actor Ōtani Tomomatsu," ōban, 1865. Large format bust portraits were extremely rare then in Osaka's printmaking decline. Photo courtesy Peter Ujlaki.

      Fig. 85 Urakusai Nagahide (active 1805-42),"Courtesan in Costume Parade from Gion, Kyoto," hosoban stencil print, 1814.Dark-skinned assistant mimics Dutchman's servant. Photo courtesy Pete Ujlaki.

      In summing up Yokohama prints, Roger Keyes states that "The most observant and interesting of these artists was Utagawa Sadahide (1807-73), while others included Yoshi'iku, Yoshikazu and Yoshitora;' pupils of Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Common were sets of prints of Americans, Englishmen, Russians, Frenchmen, and Dutchmen, with an occasional Chinese. A lot of misinformation was added to the false stereotypes.

      Triptychs also showed buildings, home interiors, parades, and ships. The peak was 1860-62, shortly after the port opened, but the vein soon withered.

      Osaka Prints

      Edo was the center of ukiyo-e production and supplied the whole country with the names you will be familiar with, but Osaka had its own tradition. These Kamigata-e (Kyoto-Osaka prints) pleased theater-goers there by depicting local heroes. Osakans were addicted to the theater, so most prints are of actors.

      There was also a tradition of making prints using very expensive printing techniques-mica, metallics, and embossing-for special customers and theatrical fan clubs. Works by Hokushū, Hokuei, Hirosada, and Konobu may appeal to some buyers. The first three did mainly actor prints, which are still available, while the fourth did new technology (Bunmei Kaika) prints, for example of railways. These are harder to find (Figs. 84, 85, 88-90, 92).

      The Meiji Break

      Narazaki Muneshige in The Japanese Print says that "Many Meiji prints were characterized by the lavish use of a bright scarlet color, and they are sometimes referred to as aka-e ('red pictures'). A peculiar shade of lavender was also used." He adds that ukiyo-e smoothed the path from feudalism to Westernization by visual means, till they were replaced by cameras and presses.

      The Meiji Revolution seemed likely to sweep away all of Japan's artistic traditions until Ernest Fenollosa's persuasive warnings caused important people to stop and think. A dual system grew up whereby artists knew of the other but mainly followed either the old or the new path and so methods and materials.

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