Misty Day in Nikko (日光　霧の日)

Designer: Hiroshi Yoshida | Carver: Taran Casey | Printer: Ayumi Ohashi

Paper size: 26cm by 17.5cm | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ? ( Change currency: $ / £ / € )

Price: $ 240.00£ 190.00€ 220.00 [Reprinting]

   

Description: The print you see here was published in 1937 by Hiroshi Yoshida, designed by himself of course, then carved and printed by artisans working under his direction. His works are now in the public domain, and we here at Mokuhankan felt it would be a worthy challenge for our team to bring a new version to life.

We have no access to the original blocks to learn how it was 'built', so we undertook a long process of 'reverse engineering', through study of different copies of the print in museums and private collections, trying to develop an understanding of how the various colour layers and overlays came together to create the final image.

That work was - for the most part - done by the newest member of our team, young Taran Casey, originally from Wales, now resident in Japan.

He was also responsible for the block cutting, creating a stack of 10 blocks (with many printing 'zones' carved on them), enough to include all the incredible detail in the picture.

Taran-san and our printer Ayumi Ohashi then embarked on a very long process of proofing and trialling, sometimes sending him back to cut more areas, or to trim away areas that turned out to be not needed.

With the blocks then 'ready', Ayumi-san got to work on an initial batch of prints, taking over fifty impressions for each sheet ... with the result you see here.

* * *

What would Yoshida-san think of this? Near the end of his (fabulous) printmaking treatise, we find this passage: "I should disapprove of nobody more heartily than one who merely copied what he sees ... and not going a step beyond or making any effort to do so."

And he is correct: if we were merely interested in reproducing that which had gone before, there would be no point to our work. But he also knew - just as well as any teacher in any field knows - that one learns by first studying what our predecessors have built, and with that knowledge internalized, then moving forward into new fields.

And we see this in the very next paragraph of his book, "I wish that the knowledge and accomplishments I have set forth herein may serve as a foundation for others to build upon, raising their own structures which shall be in style and substance worthy of them and of the age in which they live."

Yoshida-san, we're on this! We thank you very much for the incredible information in your book, and for what we have learned by making this reproduction. It remains to be seen just where we can take it ... but fasten your seat belts everybody!

* * *

Taran-san took quite a lot of video footage while doing his work on this print, and has uploaded some of it to his YouTube channel:

Misty day in Nikko - 1. carving the key block

Misty day in Nikko - 2. colour building

Misty day in Nikko - 3. printing

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