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anesewoodblock prints UBLISHERS AND MASTERWORKS 1680  1900 lndreas Marks Foreword by Stephen Addiss Publishing d, Vermont • Singapore

Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of PeriplusEditions (HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at 364 InnovationDrive, North Clarendon, Vermont 05759 U.S.A. and at 61Tai Seng Avenue #02-12, Singapore 534167.Copyright © 2010 Andreas MarksAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,or by any information storage and retrieval system, withoutprior written permission from the publisher.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataMarks, Andreas. Japanese woodblock prints : artists, publishers, andmasterworks, 1680-1900 / by Andreas Marks ; foreword byStephen Addiss. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN: 978-1-4629-0599-7 (ebook)1. Color prints, Japanese--Edo period, 1600-1868. 2.Color prints, Japanese--Meiji period, 1868-1912. 3. Uki-yoe. 4. Publishers and publishing--Japan. I. Title. NE1321.8.M355 2010 769.952--dc22 2009046049ISBN 978-4-8053-1055-7Distributed byNorth America, Latin America & EuropeTuttle Publishing364 Innovation DriveNorth Clarendon, VT 05759-9436 U.S.A.Tel: 1 (802) 773-8930; Fax: 1 (802) 773-6993info@tuttlepublishing.comwww.tuttlepublishing.comJapanTuttle PublishingYaekari Building, 3rd Floor5-4-12 Osaki, Shinagawa-kuTokyo 141 0032Tel: (81) 3 5437-0171; Fax: (81) 3 [email protected] PacificBerkeley Books Pte. Ltd.61 Tai Seng Avenue #02-12Singapore 534167Tel: (65) 6280-1330; Fax: (65) [email protected] 13 12 11 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Printed in SingaporeTUTTLE PUBLISHING® is a registered trademark ofTuttle Publishing, a division of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.Three pages previous 1854 Kunimitsu II. “Dawn of springsnow” (Haru no yuki yukari no akatsuki). Center panel of anōban triptych. Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tōbei. Asian Art Museum,National Museums in Berlin.Two pages previous 1857 Kunisada. “Merchants” (Shōnin),from the series “Stylish imaginary four classes” (Imayōmitate shi-nō-kō-shō). Center panel of an ōban triptych.Publisher: Sakanaya Eikichi. Japan Ukiyo-e Museum, Matsumoto.Imaginary view of beautiful women selling and buying printsand illustrated books.Right 1920s Kiyochika. “Murasaki Shikibu;” later edition,from the series “Ancient Patterns” (Kodai moyō). Center andright panels of an ōban triptych. Publisher: Akiyama Buemon.Santa Barbara Museum of Art 1986.31.85a-c, Gift of Mr. and Mrs.Roland A. Way. Smith 1988, fig. 110.







contentsForeword by Stephen Addiss 09 Artists KiyonobuIntroduction 10 Kiyonobu II MasanobuNote to Readers 22 Toshinobu Shigenaga Kiyomasu Kiyomasu II Kiyomitsu Bunchō Shunshō Harunobu Koryūsai Shunkō Shigemasa Toyoharu Kiyonaga Utamaro Chōki Shunman Eishi Eishō Hokusai Toyokuni Shun’ei Shuntei Sharaku Kunimasa Toyohiro Tsukimaro Hokkei Eizan Toyokuni II Kunisada Kuniyasu Eisen Hiroshige Kuniyoshi Sadahide Yoshitora Kunisada II Hiroshige II Kyōsai Yoshiiku Kunichika Chikanobu Yoshitoshi Kiyochika Gekkō Ginkō Kokunimasa

24 Publishers 180 26 Urokogataya Magobei 182 29 Igaya Kan’emon 184 32 Emiya Kichiemon 186 36 Murataya Jirōbei 188 38 Tsuruya Kiemon 190 40 Nishimuraya Yohachi 194 42 Maruya Jinpachi 198 44 Iwatoya Kisaburō 202 48 Tsutaya Jūzaburō 204 52 Izumiya Ichibei 208 56 Ezakiya Kichibei 212 60 Yamaguchiya Chūsuke 214 64 Maruya Bun’emon 216 66 Matsumura Tatsuemon 218 68 Iseya Magobei 220 72 Wakasaya Yoichi 222 76 Moriya Jihei 226 82 Tsuruya Kinsuke 230 84 Iseya Rihei 234 86 Maruya Seijirō 238 88 Kawachiya Genshichi 242 90 Sanoya Kihei 244 96 Yamaguchiya Tōbei 248100 Kawaguchiya Uhei 252102 Ōmiya Heihachi 254106 Jōshūya Jūzō/Jūbei 256108 Yamamotoya Heikichi 258110 Tsujiokaya Bunsuke 262112 Kagaya Kichibei 264114 Ibaya Senzaburō 266116 Tsutaya Kichizō 268118 Daikokuya Heikichi 272120 Takenouchi Magohachi 276128 Ebiya Rinnosuke 280130 Fujiokaya Keijirō 284132 Hayashiya Shōgorō 288140 Ebisuya Shōshichi 290144 Ōtaya Takichi 292146 Iseya Kanekichi 294150 Maruya Tetsujirō 298154 Yamadaya Shōjirō 300156 Sakanaya Eikichi 302158 Sawamuraya Seikichi 306160 Hiranoya Shinzō 308162 Morimoto Junzaburō 310166 Yorozuya Magobei 312168 Tsujiokaya Kamekichi 314172 Fukuda Kumajirō 316174 Akiyama Buemon 320176 324 326 Bibliography Index





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The Buo JapU kiyo, the “floatin of human life an instead to accepEarly Modern Japan, howspirit proclaimed that ifwhen they appear, much There is a fascinatingthe fleeting moment, mufamous artistic productsand scholars in the Westgenerally regarded as ephextant Japanese prints hacollections now reside indecades, however, the floprints from the West. The first monographLe Peintre des Maisons Vecatalogues, and publishedleft to be done, and this bartists while establishingof the vital role played byprints or sets of prints anwere in charge of sales. Urather a lively and up-to-society. Just as we use poJapanese enjoy prints, analthough they have oftenwhole, just as the red sea What this extremelycollaborative effort, rathetaking the roles of designhigh level of the prints thworld in which they werPrevious page 1864 Kunisadawrestler Jinmaku Kyūgorō.. ŌWakasaya Yoichi. Asian Art MuseMuseums in Berlin.Left 1780s Shunman Far righfirst edition of an untitled hexjuxtaposed to the “‘Six Jewel Rtamagawa). Ōban. Publisher: FuAsian Art Museum, National MuThe complete hexaptych is illusukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten, vol. 7, n

oyant World ofpanese Printsng world,” was originally a Buddhist term, referring to the transient nature nd experience. The message was therefore not to cling to one’s desires, butpt the flow of life without grasping. In the hedonistic urban culture of wever, the concept of a “floating world” was given a new twist. The new pleasures are only momentary, then let’s enjoy them as much as possible like the cherry blossoms that are all too soon lost to wind or rain.g paradox in ukiyo-e; these prints and paintings were created to appeal touch like pop songs today, and yet they are now prized as one of the most of traditional Japan. This has been due in large part to painters, collectors,t who were the first to recognize their artistic merits when they were stillhemera in Japan. It has been estimated that at one time as many as 90% ofad been brought to Europe or North America, and some of the greatestn museums in cities such as Boston, New York, and Honolulu. In recentow has been reversed, with Japanese collectors and museums now buyingh on a ukiyo-e master in any country was Edmond de Goncourt’s Outamaro:ertes of 1891, and in the 118 years since, there have been more exhibitions, d scholarship on ukiyo-e than any other form of Japanese art. Yet much is book by Andreas Marks offers not only reliable information on fifty majorg their historical progression, but also provides a much-needed recognition y publishers. These entrepreneurs not only commissioned artists to designnd arranged for carvers and printers to complete the works, but they alsoUkiyo-e was not a form of art created by the lonely painter in a garret, but -the-minute visual medium for people at less than the highest levels ofosters and photographs as decoration and souvenirs, so did everydaynd without publishers the entire field could not have existed. Further,n been ignored by collectors, the publisher’s markings are part of the artisticals of the artist provide visual punctuation to both paintings and prints.y thorough and useful book helps to make clear is that ukiyo-e was a er different from most print-making in the West, with individual specialists ner, carver, printer, and publisher. They combined to create the supremely hat continue to provide us with interest and pleasure today, long after there created has floated away. — Stephen Addiss, University of Richmonda. The sumoŌban. Publisher: eum, Nationalht panel from the 9xaptych of womenRivers’” (muushimiya Zenroku.useums in Berlin.strated in Genshokuno. 193, p. 72.

A Unique AHokusai’s “Great Wave,” Hiroshige’s landscapes along the Tōkaidō road, oHarunobu’s and Utamaro’s beauties from the Yoshiwara pleasure Squarter, and Sharaku’s large-head actor portraits are just a few popu- wlar examples of the tens of thousands of woodblock prints that were tpublished in Japan from the mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth dcentury. This unique form of art—mass-produced colored woodblock fiprints—evolved and thrived only in Japan and there predominantly ain Edo, present-day Tokyo. During a long period of peace known as cthe Edo period (1603–1868), the city of Edo grew to be a culturallyand economically thriving metropolis with a dynamic society that en- tjoyed literature and kabuki theater as well as sexual entertainments, tthe famous “floating world” (ukiyo). A censorship system, put in place hby the government to regulate the liberal but highly commercial daily dlife, could not suppress the rapid interest in woodblock printed im- laages of actors and courtesans. Today widely known as ukiyo-e or “pic- litures of the floating world,” these prints developed from early black feand white images to subtly hand-colored and then lavishly printed tpictures. Often perceived as witnesses of an idealized, romantic past vthey are now highly treasured. In art sales, a well-preserved print, donce sold for a few pennies as one of hundreds of impressions at the mtime of production, may now cost a fortune—much more than manypaintings which are the only one of its kind. re e In early modern Japan, this unique art form was an urban Dphenomenon of a purely commercial nature. Purchased by a large cli- oentele of commoner townsfolk but also by aristocratic samurai, these tprints were generally perceived to be a special product of Edo as kindicated by the terms azuma-e (“pictures from Edo”) or azuma nishiki- te (“brocade pictures from the east”), and were popular souvenirs for tvisitors who came from outside Edo. Shops selling prints and books inwere established in many different parts of the city. Some offered a libroad range of prints, while others specialized in specific items, such aas fan prints. In general many of these shops were also active as pub- Tlishing firms. Today, Japanese print collectors easily overlook the factthat these prints were not considered to be “fine art” during their time Tof production, nor were they considered to be the creation of a single hartist working alone. They were in fact the joint product of a collabo- “ration between several people, with the publisher in the center. The impublisher was the decision maker, supervising the entire production nprocess and marketing the final print. tr U10

Art Form A quintet of five interactive parties was involved in the creationof a print. First, was the artist who designed the image to be printed.Second was the engraver who cut the woodblocks for printing. Thirdwas the printer who printed the sheets from the blocks. Fourth wasthe publisher who financed and oversaw the entire process—fromdiscussing the subject of the print with the designer to putting thefinal print on the market. And fifth was the consumers, who playedan active role also as their taste determined if the print would be acommercial success or not. From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, prints were issuedthat focused on actors of the popular kabuki theater, beauties fromthe pleasure quarters, legendary samurai warriors and many otherhistorical subjects. During the Edo period, tastes evolved and ademand for novel ideas resulted in the creation of new subjects likeandscape prints and pictures of flowers and birds. It was the pub-isher’s responsibility and at the same time his challenge, to have aeeling for the trends of the time, producing his prints in unison withthe consumer’s interests. The choice of the right print designer wasvital. A designer could be brilliant and inventive—but if the consumerdisliked his compositions or the choice of subjects, then the publishermost likely ended up in financial problems. The large number of publishing firms existing in the Edo periodreflects how vital and competitive the market was. Many publishingenterprises were short-lived, and little is known about most of them.During the three centuries that these prints were produced, wellover a thousand publishers existed in Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Onlytwo hundred left their trademarks on the prints, although we do notknow their proper names. Of another 600 publishing firms, we knowthe names and locations, but that is about all. There are only abouttwo hundred publishers for whom we know a few more details, fornstance that they were members of the Picture Book and Print Pub-ishers Guild (Jihon toiya). So, in the end we have detailed personaland historical information about only a few dozen publishing firms.The majority of print publishers and sellers were also active as bookTop 1870 Kunisada II “Hour of the Right 1812 Kunitsugu The actorhorse” (Uma no koku), from the series Nakamura Utaemon III as Kiyomizu“Twelve hours of attempts for hidden Seigen in the play Kiyomizu Seigenmages year-round” (Jūni toki hitsushi omokage zakura, Nakamura Theater,no toshimaru). Left panel of an ōban III/1812. Ōban. Publisher: Suzuki Ihei. Asianriptych. Publisher: Kiya Sōjirō. JapanUkiyo-e Museum, Matsumoto. Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin.



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Above 1787. Kiyonaga OIllustration of Nishimuraya Yohachi’s Tshop, from the book “Colors of the aThreefold Morning” (Saishiki mitsu uno asa) Ōban Publisher: Nishimuraya NYohachi Museum of Asian Art, National aMuseums in Berlin12

Opposite top Late 1790s Toyokuni Opposite bottom 1861 KunisadaThe actors Nakamura Denkurō IV The actor Bandō Kamezō I as Koikeand Matsumoto Yonesaburō I in Gokutarō in the play Chiyo no haruunidentified roles. Ōban. Publisher: Tosa-e no saya ate, Ichimura Theater,Nishimuraya Chō. Collection Arendie II/1861, from the series “Stylish Mirrorand Henk Herwig. Reflections” (Imayō oshi-e kagami) Ōban Publisher: Fujiokaya Keijirō Collection Arendie & Henk Herwig, The Netherlands

vendors. Several operated large shops and offered even publicationsof rival publishers who in exchange sold their publications. Such co-operation made sense in a bustling metropolis like Edo as it enabled apublisher to reach out to different locations in town in order to sell hisproducts some distance away from his main premises without havingto open another branch. Many publishers simply continued to feedthe market according to the current taste, without taking the risk oftrying out new themes or styles. If a publisher turned to lesser knownprint designers it was not always a sign of his willingness to supportan unknown, possibly talented artist. Well-known designers chargedhigher prices for their images than lesser known artists. By engaginga popular designer the chance was raised that a publisher would beable to get his investment back, but he would have to invest moremoney upfront. Commissioning a lesser known print designer meantfewer investments but also assuming greater risk for failure of theoperation. Those publishers who found the right balance betweenrisk and security managed to survive. Even though the print designer was not the only link in the chain,he was crucial for the success of a print. The designer was the flagshipand face of the product. He was allowed to sign his work, helpingconsumers to identify their acquisition even after time. Like engraversand printers, print designers were also considered craftsmen and theywent through a system of apprenticeship. Starting at a young age,aspiring students first copied their master’s works, then completedsketches by the master and assisted in cheap book illustrations. It wasup to the master to decide when a student was ready for his coming-out. After years of training, the master supported the student’s firstself-work, so to speak, and the student was finally allowed to sign aswell. The student received a name from the master with usually onesyllable deriving from the master’s own name. Utamaro’s studentTsukimaro, for example, had the same “maro” in his name. Toyokuni’sfamous students Kunisada and Kuniyoshi but also minor students likeKunitsugu (1800–1861) received his “kuni.” Being the student of a well-known print designer naturally helpedcareers advance. Chances were higher that such students foundpublishers for their designs, but the fees they would receive at thebeginning were still small. Accounts from the late Meiji period (1868-1912) that are most likely also applicable to the Edo period, state thatyoung designers had to cover half or even the entire costs of cuttingthe woodblocks (sashikin) and only if the designer was promisingwould a publisher bear the costs himself. As a standard, print runswere counted in hai (lit. cups) consisting of two hundred impressions.The actual number of print runs depended on the popularity of thedesign and it was common to directly produce several runs of populardesigners’ prints. If more than two print runs of the young designer’swork were sold, i.e. over four hundred impressions, he received his

a sgpsysedr INTRODUCTION 13

garyoō, the painting charge. In the 1870s, Kunichika, the leadingdesigner of actor prints at that time, received one Yen (=100 Sen) fora triptych of four actors in half-length that was afterwards sold for sixSen. The same composition by another designer would cost 75 Sen,one quarter less. Publishers in general tried to offer a wide range of products,aiming at consumers with a wide range of interests. These productschanged over time in accordance with the consumers’ interest andthe technical development. Technical limits did not allow printingin color until the 1730s/40s and earlier prints were therefore hand-colored principally with an orange lead oxide pigment (tan-e) to makethem more appealing. With the introduction of color printing withtwo blocks (benizuri-e, lit. “pink-print pictures”) it was not long untilmulticolor printing was achieved in 1765. The so-called “brocadeprints”(nishiki-e), were well received and sprang up like mushrooms.In the following decades, the printing process was further enhancedby developing special printing techniques such as the use of mica,gold, and silver simulating metal pigments, graduation, embossing,and lacquer-like printing. Originally, prints were single-sheet compositions and this contin-ued to be the chief item until the twentieth century. By the secondhalf of the eighteenth century, multi-sheet compositions developed(mostly diptychs and triptychs) showing a single image that evolvedover all sheets. Occasionally, larger compositions appeared consist-ing of five, six, even twelve sheets. Every period was dominated by aspecific format that appealed most to the majority of consumers. Thenarrow hosoban format was preferred for actor prints during the mid-eighteenth century. At the same time, prints of beautiful women wereproduced in the medium chūban format. At the end of the eighteenthcentury, the large ōban format became the principal size, mostlyvertically for figures and horizontally for landscapes. Smaller formatsexisted as well in sizes deriving from the oban format (one half, onequarter, etc.). Fan prints, pillar prints, and other formats appeared onthe market for specific purposes. Uchiwa-e, fan prints, were meantto be cut along their margins and glued on a wood frame in order tobe used. Pillar prints (hashira-e) are long and slender in order to behung in the house for decoration purposes. Of course this could bedone with other prints as well, however, pillar prints, once mounted,were an ideal alternative to costly scroll paintings placed in the alcove(tokonoma) that was, and to a certain extend still is, traditional toJapanese houses. The typical subject matters of these prints were popular kabukiactors (yakusha-e) and fashionable courtesans from the pleasurequarters (bijinga), which was initially conceived by the term “float-ing world” (ukiyo). These subject matters were not only captured onprints, the ukiyo-e, but also in paintings called nikuhitsu (lit. “flesh14





C.1869 Kunichika The actorsNakamura Shikan IV as Hisayoshi,Onoe Kikugorō V as ShibataKatsushige, and Bandō Kamezō I asShōya Kikuemon in an unidentifiedplay, Nakamura Theater, 1869 Ōbantriptych Publisher: Yorozuya ZentarōMuseum of Asian Art, NationalMuseums in BerlinINTRODUCTION 15

16 artists



brush”). From the very beginning, erotica (shunga) was a major sub-ject that was naturally high in demand in Edo because of its dominantmale population, deriving, on one hand, from the many retainersthat had to be present by law to guard the provincial lords in town,and on the other hand, from the rapid development of Edo itselfthat attracted many male laborers from the countryside. Edo was thelargest town in the world at that time with a population of one millionpeople—nearly seventy percent of them males. Bijinga and shungawere intertwined as they both addressed—from different aspects—the idealized icon of female beauty, derived from images of courte-sans that were in fact prostitutes. Everyone had access to the pleasurequarters and their services but a hierarchy of courtesans developedand the high-ranking, hence very expensive, beauties were for mostpeople unreachable. Their appearance in superb coiffures and luxuri-ous garments became the motifs of bijinga. The initially full-lengthpictures of courtesans developed in the late eighteenth century tohalf-length, close-up portraits that focused even more intensly ontheir refined manners. As beauty pictures were such a popular subject,many of these prints were on the market and the publishers and printdesigners had to use new means to keep their products interesting totheir clientele. Playful juxtapositions, imaginary comparisons called mi-tate developed as a new trend. The beauties were depicted in settingsderived from another context and puzzles were created that evokedthe interest of consumers and became the latest thing. A developmentthat eventually would happen with actor prints as well, but at a muchlater period. The main purpose of actor prints was to portray the leading ac-tors at the height of their performance and to offer the audience asouvenir of the theater experience to take home. The kabuki theaterswere frequented by a sophisticated audience demanding new, excit-ing plays. Many plays were not repeated in exactly the same way butoften presented as slightly different versions, sustaining an ongoingdemand for new prints. The actors themselves developed stylizedways of performing (kata), speech patterns, and exalted poses (mie)that became their signatures and were passed on to the next genera-tion along with their stage names. On actor prints, the actor’s couldbe identified by the crests (mon) depicted on their costumes or atother positions on the prints. In the first half of the eighteenth cen-tury, it became custom to inscribe the actor’s name on the print butin the second half the name disappeared again but the actors couldbe identified by their crest. In 1770, Shunsho and Buncho conceivedhalf-length actor portraits that turned out to be very well received bykabuki aficionados. They are the principle developers of “likeness pic-tures” (nigao-e) that captured the unique personality and individualityof an actor, as opposed to earlier actor prints that concentrated ontransmitting the beauty of the costumes and the lively motion on the

Opposite c.1768–69t Harunobu “Snow” (Yuki), from the series “Elegant Snow, Moon, and Flowers” (Fūryū setsugekka). Chūban. Library of Congress. Suzuki 1979, no. 325-1.n Right Early 1780s Koryūsai A young woman with the character yoshi on the obi and a scarf in the mouth, attended by a young girl. Hashira-e.e Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi. Library of Congress. Pins 1982, fig. 385, and Hockley 2003, appendix III, N.12.,-tye 17

stage. These half-length portraits took the form of striking bust por-traits that hit the market around the turn of the nineteenth century.The output of actor prints increased significantly in the nineteenthcentury and the competitive market gave way to more technicalrefinements. The leading designers developed formulas as to how todepict certain actors best and reused these formulas to serve the highdemand. Besides beauties and actors many other subject matters becamepopular during different periods and several print designers special-ized in certain subjects. Japan’s long tradition of heroic narratives andrich canon of legends found their way into so-called warrior prints(musha-e). Serial novelettes supported the interest in historical sub-jects and warrior prints occupied a respectable share of the marketin the nineteenth century. Other literary sources found also their wayonto prints, especially the eleventh century “Tale of Genji” (Genji mo-nogatari) and its nineteenth century persiflage “A Country Genji by aFake Murasaki” (Nise Murasaki inaka Genji; 1829–42). The popularity ofthe latter resulted in a new subject matter, the “Genji pictures” (Genji-e), that were on the market from the 1840s until the early 1890s. Landscape views, another popular subject matter in prints,derived from the Chinese theme of “Eight Views of the Xiao and XiangRivers” (Jp. shōshō hakkei), first found in poetry before it became apainting motif. The “Eight Views of Ōmi” (Ōmi hakkei), or Lake Biwa, isits Japanese pendant that was first illustrated in prints in the first halfof the eighteenth century. The travel and pilgrimage boom since theearly eighteenth century supported the wide interest in guide booksand landscape pictures. Views of the fifty-four stations along theTōkaidō road (Tōkaidō goju-san tsugi) that connected Edo with Kyoto,famous sights in Edo (Edo meisho), and views of Mount Fuji becamethe principal motifs for hundreds of print series. The popularity of landscape prints and especially Hiroshige’sTōkaidō series, provides an example of how publishers effectivelyreturned their investment. For every design, publishers were alert asto how many impressions they had to sell to return their investment.In an ideal situation, a design got sold out and the demand continuedto be high enough to produce another print-run. With every ad-ditional print-run that followed, publishers gained more profit thanwith the first, as neither the print designer had to be paid again, northe engraver, as the woodblocks could still be used (at least for sometime). The publisher usually only paid the printer for the production,including his work, the paper, the colors, and refinements, if any. Afterthe engraver prepared the woodblocks, they became the propertyof the publisher and from some publishers we know that they kepttheir blocks for many years, waiting for an opportunity to reuse them.Sometimes blocks were brought to pawnshops, sold to other publish-ers, or the entire business was taken over by another publisher who18





1899 Shusei “Yoshitsune and hisFollowers and the Terrible Storm inDaimotsu Bay” (Daimotsu-no-ura niYoshitsune shūjū nanpū). Ōbantriptych. Publisher: Morimoto Shōtarō.Collection Arendie and Henk Herwig.INTRODUCTION 19

20 artists



then automatically came into possession of old blocks. In a few cases, the period of activity of a publishing house goeswell beyond one hundred years, sometimes even over two hundredyears. Tsuruya Kiemon, for example, started to produce books in the1620s, turned then towards prints and his successors were active inthis field until 1852. This long period outstretches by far the life of asingle person and Tsuruya Kiemon, like many others, developed infact from an individual publisher to a publishing firm that evidentlyoperated over many generations. Usually, the leadership of the firmwas passed on to the next generation who then took the predeces-sor’s name at the time of inheritance; much like the print designersand carvers did. It is not clear which generation of Tsuruya Kiemonhad to abandon the print publishing business in 1852, but of anotherpublisher, Daikokuya Heikichi, it is known that the publishing firm wasin operation for 167 years until Heikichi V passed away in 1931. In order to assist consumers in identifying the sources of theirprints and to increase the possibility of making them returningcustomers, publishers marked their prints with their trademark.Publisher trademarks appeared in a wide range of styles dependingon a number of factors like the time of publication. Today, this makespublishing seals a means to assist in dating prints from a time whendate seals were not in use. The trademark on a print could have beena logo without an obvious connection to a specific publisher up to anelaborate description of the publishers’ merits including his full nameand address. To return to the previous example Tsuruya Kiemon, Tsu-ruya Kiemon actually was the firm name, lit.: Kiemon’s Crane Shop. Histrade mark was Tsuruki and the official name of the publishing housewas Senkakudō (lit.: Immortal Crane Hall). His family name was Ko-bayashi, making his personal name Kobayashi Kiemon. The trademarkon a print could incorporate any of these names and some publisherseven created different seals for each print of a multi-sheet series. Print series are important elements of this art form. Japanesewoodblock prints developed from book illustrations, sequential, inter-connected images that tell a story. These images became dissociatedfrom the text and released from their bound form to be published asuntitled sets called kumimono. At first, actor prints were not serializedbut singularly issued after a successful performance. Series of actorsonly started to appear in the second half of the eighteenth century.In the beginning, prints of beautiful women proved to be more suit-able for serialization and a wide range of devices like the Eight Views(hakkei) developed. Generally speaking, series are a clever inventionby the publishers to bind consumers to their products. Titled series ofprints with related designs were created to encourage customer’s loy-alty. In the past but also today, consumers were inclined to completethe series once another design got available.

nsk Opposite Hiroshige. 1857. “Sudden Above Kunisada. 1854. “Fifty-four—s evening shower at Atake on the Great Dream of Ukihashi” (Gojūyon—Yume Bridge” (Ōhashi, Atake no yūdachi), no ukihashi), from an untitled series from the series “One Hundred “A Comparison of Present Genji Famous Views of Edo” (Meisho Edo Brocade Prints” (Ima Genji nishiki-e- hyakkei). Ōban. Publisher: Sakanaya awase). Chūban. Publisher: Sanoya Eikichi. Honolulu Academy of Arts: Gift Kihei. Library of Congress. of James A. Michener, 1991 (22745). Sakai 1981, p. 250, ōban no. 62.22. In the following chapters, print designers and publishers are presented who created important single prints as well as print series from the mid-seventeenth up to the early twentieth century. When- ever possible, biographical details are given as well as lists of theirf major works. Representative works by each designer and publisher- will provide visual access to them. The artists are listed in chronologi- cal order, thus creating a historical overview of Japanese woodblock prints from Kiyonobu (1664–1729) until Kokunimasa (1874–1944). INTRODUCTION 21

Note to ReadersThe selection of artists and publishers is based upon their activity andimportance to the history of Japanese woodblock prints from the latesixteenth to the early twentieth century.ArtistsThe artists are presented in a chronological order, to provide a visualaccount of the development of Japanese woodblock prints from theseventeenth to the twentieth century. The name of the artist used inthe header reflects the best-known name, e.g. Hokusai and not Shunrō,Iitsu etc. The Japanese name system for artists during the Edo periodwas extremely complex. Apart from family names (uji), we distinguishbetween childhood names (yōmyō) and given/common names (zokushō/zokumyō). Print artists had special artist surnames (gasei) reflecting thepainting tradition they followed (ha), e.g. Torii, Utagawa, or Kikugawa.Artist names (azana) such as Toyokuni or Kunisada were precededby various art names (gagō) that frequently ended in -sai or -tei likeChōbunsai, Gototei, or Ichiyūsai. To confer a posthumous Buddhist name(hōmyō) after death was a common practice but these names are notknown for all artists.PublishersThe publishers are presented in a chronological order based on dates (es-timated or known) when each enterprise was started. The list of selectedworks consists of series otherwise stated.Captions and DatingThe captions to the plates include artist name, series title, print title, pub-lisher, medium, size, and date. All dates before January 1, 1873 (the daywhen Japan started to use the Gregorian calendar) refer to the traditionalJapanese lunisolar calendar. A date in the lunisolar calendar is notequivalent to the“same”date in the Gregorian calendar, e.g. the fifteenthday of the twelfth month 1864 is not equivalent to December 15, 1864but in fact January 12, 1865, almost one month later. Dates since 1873refer to today’s Gregorian calendar.Table of approximate print sizesōban Width x Height Width x Heighthosobanchūban 27 x 39 cm 10.6 x 15.4 in.aiban 15 x 33 cm 5.9 x 13 in.hashira-e 19 x 26 cm 7.5 x 10 in.ōtanzaku 23 x 33 cm 9 x 13 in.shikishiban 12 x 73 cm 4.7 x 28.7 in. 39 x 17 cm 15.4 x 6.7 in. 19 x 22 cm 7.5 x 8.7 in.22 artists