* The original is a woodcut, which gives the marks a rougher texture.

Discover Japanese woodblock prints:

Production process and division of responsibilities

1. Artist (eshi)

Responsible for drawing the original design.

Provides the overall composition and the design of the figures and landscape.

For example: Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kawase Hasui.

2. Publisher (hanmoto)

The heart of the entire team, akin to a “producer + distributor.”

Funded and planned the work, determined its theme, and collaborated with the artist.

Hire carvers and printers, and coordinate the schedule and quality.

Responsible for sales and promotion, and for deciding the size of the edition.

For example: Shozaburo Watanabe of the shin-hanga movement.

3. Block carver (horishi)

Transfer the artist’s original drawing onto a woodblock for carving.

Each color requires a dedicated woodblock.

The technical demands are extremely high: precision down to the millimeter is required, or the overprinted colors will be misaligned.

4. Printer (surishi)

Woodblocks and pigments are used to print the image layer by layer onto washi paper.

Responsible for color gradation, blending, and light-and-shadow effects.

The level of technical skill directly affects the work’s final appearance.

Giclée print / fine art etching paper

Tsukasa Yoshida (born 1949) is a renowned contemporary Japanese woodblock print artist active in modern printmaking. He was born into the distinguished Yoshida family of artists; his father was Toshi Yoshida, and his grandfather was the renowned printmaking master Hiroshi Yoshida.

As a representative of the third generation, Tsukasa Yoshida has developed a style of his own. He is particularly skilled at depicting evocative subjects such as landscapes and moonlit scenes, occasionally features cats as the subjects of his prints, and also creates abstract works. He currently serves as principal of the Yoshida Hanga Academy, founded by his father Tōshi. Located in Miasa at the foot of Japan’s Northern Alps, the academy is one of the important centers of postwar Japanese woodblock-print education.