Designer: Ito Jakuchu | Publisher: Miyakodori Publishing | Date: 2021

Paper size: 22.5cm by 14.5cm | Enlargement | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: $ 60.00£ 47.00€ 56.50

Description: Mokuhankan Note: Following in the footsteps of Shin-hanga designers of the early 1900s, the young publisher Takashi Kashiwagi has sought to reinvigorate the mokuhanga world with a new concept. Kashiwagi-san’s great-grandfather ran a teahouse on the Sumida River in Tokyo, where he also worked as a printer for Ukiyo-e and Shin-hanga prints about a century ago. That teahouse was named Miyakodori, and Kashiwagi-san wanted to invoke the memory of his great-grandfather as he embarks on his own printmaking venture 100 years later.

For these new Reiwa Shin-hanga prints, Kashiwagi-san is experimenting with new techniques, and is using an industrial laser engraver to cut the outlines on the wood, with the wider clearing being done by hand.

Notes from the designer: Ito Jakuchu “Genpoyoka” series “Genpo” means a hermit’s dwelling place, and “Yoka” has the meaning of a flower as beautiful as a jade. The flowers, insects, and plants are depicted in a technique that Jakuchu was good at in which the ink is applied from the front side of the paper like rubbings to create the shapes.

Notes from the publisher: This time we made this print by the style of “Ukiyo Labo”. This project started in 2020 as a research of methods, materials, and techniques for producing Ukiyo-e prints in the modern environment. It is an experimental project that includes research on woodblocks, pigments and Japanese paper as well as prints of different levels to train printers. We hope you will enjoy our new production.