As a last resort you could use a bandsaw to cut the backs off your stock of carved blocks and glue these to a ply base, at least that way you know the timber is good.

When you cut a plank from a log all sorts of tension is released from the timber and movement can be expected, it might actually be better to glue your face down quickly rather than leave it to "dry".

I would experiment with laying up your ply, there could be a need to balance the board. Putting a 5mm layer of cherry onto an existing ply in the hope that the base will prevent cupping and splitting may be problematic. Usually plywood has a top and bottom that exert opposite forces on the core, so a 5 mm top might need to be balanced with similar on the bottom - at least that is what I was told by the man who made my plywood, he convinced me to veneer both sides of the board, admittedly I was using a soft core. I guess it will work if the base is stronger than the face.

Good Luck Dave!

Tom, thanks for the thoughts and suggestions.

There is no way that we would ever try this with a single face - we would always balance it by bonding to both sides.

As for the immediate bonding, I think that would leave us susceptible to cracking down the road; if we bonded it quickly (before it had properly dried) then as it did dry out over the months/years I think it would quite likely develop cracks, as the cells began to shrink over time. I think it would be better to let it dry - tightly tied down in stacks with stringers inbetween. Any pieces that developed a wildly uncontrollable warp that couldn't be held down by glue would be discarded ...

And the question of using the back of my old blocks ... that's a kind of 'nuclear option' for us. Most of my old colour blocks are carved on both sides, but nearly all the key blocks use a single face only. In theory, we could re-saw these, then bond the two pieces (the carved face, and the unused face) to new bases (in pairs, as mentioned above) and use them that way.

But if that carved face shrunk or distorted by as much as a fraction of a millimetre while doing this, it would be a total disaster for that print. The colour blocks could be thrown completely out of alignment.

As things stand right now, I'm not really willing to risk this. Further down the road, if our supply really does come up short after all other options ... then perhaps we may have to give this a shot!

(I know that Adachi has done this in the past - they have re-used wood from prints that they took out of their catalogue, either because the blocks were too worn to use, or because that image wasn't selling. They sent a huge pile of blocks over to Matsumura-san to be planed down (from both sides) to a central flat 'core', with these then being bonded to a fresh plywood base for re-use.)

For the overseas people is it not feasible to set up a Paypal donation system? We may not be able to provide physical help but you're going to need a lot of financing for all of this too and overseas supporters could certainly help there.

As for the paper, could this be made outside of Japan? I know there's a paper maker in the Netherlands creating paper for artists. I'm actually heading to the Netherlands in about a month and it's on my to do list to visit them. FYI their website is http://www.schutpapier.nl/

On the topic of the wood, I do have a bandsaw with resawing blade but no cherry trees of that variety here as far as I know. ;-)

I know this is going to sound crazy: But do you even need wood?

There are a lot of high-density synthetic materials these days; perhaps one of them might work. They have no pores or wood grain to worry about so you could get a completely flat surface. Also, since they don't absorb moisture, warping would not be an issue.

I know you have tried to keep things as traditional as you can; I respect that a lot. But you have also proved that you are willing to try new things, to experiment and innovate. If the old ways are no longer viable, perhaps it's time to try something new.

But do you even need wood?

For the key blocks, metal is certainly a possibility. Many of the old Meiji-era kuchi-e were made with electrotyped key blocks, and then in the 20th century, the Yoshida family used zinc plates for many of their key blocks. That's doable.

But it's the colour blocks that are giving us the biggest problem, and when you mention 'they don't absorb moisture' this would be a deal-killer for us. The cherry blocks we need have to strike a balance between two competing factors: hardness and density on the one hand (to allow fine carving, along with durability), and good absorbability on the other (to allow the pigment mix to soak in well, and then be released into the paper under the pressure of the printing pad).

I myself am very open to the 'innovation' aspect of all this, and if something came along that would cover both of those requirements, I'd be willing to try ...

What is the name of the woodblock printing technique book from 1929? I am dying to know.

I also understand that prunus sargentii wood is similar to yamazakura.

The book is a Japanese publication:錦絵の彫と摺 (Nishiki-e no Hori to Suri) "The carving and printing of Nishiki-e", by Ishii Kendo. The ISBN is 978-4753801596 I'm not aware of a translation, but much of the material in this volume was incorporated into a large Japanese Encyclopaedia some years ago: 原色浮世絵大百科辞典 (Genshoku Ukiyo-e Daihyakka Jiten) "Grand encyclopedia of Ukiyo-e work in original colours" published by Taishukan in the early 1980s.