Edo Mokuhanga

Pictures of everyday Edo

Edo woodblock prints show the lives of Edo's ordinary people: their days, their joys, their dreams and longings. One set of blocks can print hundreds of sheets. A carver cuts the design into cherry wood, and a printer brushes on pigment and rubs the paper by hand, colour after colour. It is made in Taito, Bunkyo, Chuo and other areas of Tokyo, in Matsudo in Chiba and in Joso in Ibaraki.

Carver and printer

• Solid cherry wood blocks are carved; too deep or too shallow a cut spoils the printing.
• Washi is sized with dosa, a wash of animal glue and alum.
• Pigment is brushed onto the block, the paper laid on top, and the back rubbed with a baren made of bamboo sheath and leaves.
• The printer adjusts the pigment for temperature and humidity; some prints need more than 30 impressions.

From one colour to many

Edo prints began in black ink, coloured by brush in styles called tan-e, beni-e and urushi-e. Then printers learned to print colour from blocks, first two or three colours. In 1765, gold, silver and in-between shades could be printed too, and full-colour printing was established. The techniques set in the Edo period are still handed down, mainly in Tokyo.