Short introduction to the history of the Edo-period (ca. 1600-1868)

To understand the expression "Ukiyo-e - Images of the Floating World" you have to know some facts about the Japanese history. Beginning in the 12th century, the tennô, the Japanese Emperor, lost power as the influence of the Shôgun (commander-in-chief, originally general) on the executive increased. The title Shôgun was bestowed for life for the first time by the Emperor Go-Toba on the Lord Minamoto Yoritomo and was inherited from father to son. Therefore only members of the Minamoto (1192-1219), Fujiwara (1220-1244) and the Ashikaga (1336-1573) clans held this title until the end of the 16th century. The Emperor appointed the Shôgun but in fact the power was in his hands and even the Emperor had to obey him.

However, in the 16th century the influence of the Shôgun faded, too. The nobility lost power by fighting each other. After countless fights with changing influential allies, the Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) managed to win a decisive battle at Sekigahara. 40000 men of the enemy forces lost their lives. With this victory Ieyasu gained unlimited authority in Japan using it quite arbitrarily. In 1603, the Emperor Go Yozei appointed him as the first Shôgun of the Tokugawa clan. The family kept this title until 1868.

As early as in 1590 Ieyasu had chosen a village in the eastern part of the island Monshu as his headquarters and had fortified it. After gaining power over whole Japan he decided to dissociate himself from the Emperor's court in Kyôto by making this village, Edo (today: Tôkyô), the Japanese capital.

By raising taxes and different conditions and by involving the Daimyô (major feudal lords) in building the new capital he reduced the fortune and the influence of the lords and succeeded in cosolidating the power of the Shôgunat (military dictatorship). New laws and law-and-order measures strengthened Ieyasus power in a way that lasted beyond his grave. His successors Tokugawa Hidetada and Tokugawa Iemitsu managed to keep this balance of power. From 1635 on, the lords had to stay several months a year in Edo. When they returned to their castles, their wives and children were not allowed to come with them because they had to stay as hostages in the Shôgun's residence.

In order to keep every possible seditious thoughts from abroad out of Japan, the Japanese islands were hermetically cut off from the outside world. This was also a reaction on the Christian rebellion at Shimabara (1637). Resistance against resolutions of the Shôgunat was persecuted without mercy.

All these facts led to a stabilization of the internal peace in Japan for the following 250 years, the so-called Edo-period. The new capital Edo began to prosper very fast. Trade and industry boomed and a diverse cultural life developed. Citizens and traders earned big amounts of money and used all offered possibilities of education and pleasure. Theatres, wrestling arenas and entertainment quarters became very popular. Actors, wrestlers and courtesans were celebrated persons. While the nobility took care of the traditional arts, the first "ukiyo-e - images of the floating world", e.g. woodblock prints, were created. The people enjoyed the images of the woodblock print artists which showed the peoples favourite celebrities of the new lifestyle. In addition, the prints were offered for lower prices than paintings. As the demand for prints increased rapidly, many artists were forced to deal with designing woodblock prints. Therefore this art was practised to the point of perfection.

The origins of the printing technique in China and Japan

China was always known for its inventiveness. Printing and paper were developed here. The printing technique was already used for cloth before paper was even known. In 105 AC, Ta'ai hun was succesfull in improving the process of paper production. Therefore the development is generally dated in this year.

Probably around the year 700, the woodblock printing was created in China. The oldest known genuine dated Chinese print - the Diamond-Sûtra printed with a woodblock - goes back to the year 868 and already shows a very high artistical and technical level.

In the T'ang period (618-906) many Japanese people lived in China to study the admired culture. Back in Japan, they imitated learned techniques and developed them further. The oldest dated Japanese woodblock print - texts of the Buddhist canon - are said to go back in the year 770. At first, in Japan woodblock prints were used mainly in monasteries and temples to copy amulets, devoutious images and religious texts for the faithful.

The development from black-and-white printing to full-colour printing in China

The first attempts of colour printing in China were made around 1300. The first illustration which is printed in black and red - an edition of the Diamond-Sûtra - dates from 1340. Blue printed playing cards going back to around 1600 were perserved. In this period, many black-and-white prints were coloured by hand partially using stencils for some areas to speed up the production.

Before using several woodblocks for printing different colours attempts were made to print all colours with one printing plate. However, working with this method was not successfull - the colouring was quite complicated and even before the last colours had been applied the first ones were already dry.

Artist Ling Meng-Chu from Hu-Chou printed with four colour plates which is remarked in a book from 1581. The development of full-colour printing reached its peak in 1627. In this year, Chêng-you published his famous illustrated albums called "Shih-Chu-Chai-Hua-P'U - Collection of calligraphy and painting of the Ten Bamboo Studio.

The development from the black-and-white printing to full-colour printing in Japan

Over the years not only religious texts but also texts dealing with worldly aspects, for examples dramas and legends were printed with woodblocks in Japan. In comparison with text parts the importance of the illustrations presented in the prints grew rapidly. Moronobu (around 1618-1694) was one of the first prominent artists featuring subjects from the "Ukiyo - the floating world" - in his books. He preferred illustrations from the life of the courtesans designing the black-and-white printings (sumizuri-e) with great artistical expression. Sukenobu (1671-1751), an artist working in Kyôto, created illustrations of books dealing with the womens' life.

The Torii artists finished designing illustrations only for books at the end of the 17th century publishing the first single prints. Those prints mainly showed illustrations of the famous actors of the popular kabuki-theatre in their roles. Soon those black-and-white prints were coloured by hand.

In the beginning the prints were coloured with only a few colours but soon there were twelve colours available. By choosing from these twelve, the artists could decide how their prints would look like in the end.
By scattering gold and silver powder over some freshly coloured parts of the print a significant enhancement of the visual appeal could be reached. In addition, black areas were printed with a mixture of black ink and lacquer making those parts sparkle (urushi-e).

The next step in the development of full-colour printing created the basical conditions for the great masterpieces designed by Japanese artists in the following centuries. Okumura Masanobu (1686-1764) is said to be the first artist using several printing plates to reach a colourfulness which had not been seen before. Black, rose and green - sometimes also yellow, blue or grey - were used to print benizuri-e (rose-print images). The results of printing several colours on the same area were not satisfactory because the colours often seemed to be impure. However, the usage of more printing plates has not been possible yet because of technical reasons. Although - as mentioned before - multi-coloured printing was already fully developed in China, this technique could not be used in Japan because of the key-block printing sharp outlines. That is why the colour printing process had to be very exact - the Chinese method was not exact enough.

However, Torii Kiyomitsu (1735-1785) succeeded in improving the printing technique. It is uncertain whether he or someone else invented the "kentô", register marks which made an exact colour printing possible. Certainly some printers experimented with the method from 1764 on. Around 1765, Harunobu (1724-1770) succeeded in printing with up to 25 printing plates. Those multi-coloured prints are called nishiki-e, brocate pictures, as they put everything that had been seen before into the shade concering its quality and its colourfulness.

As Harunobu had practised the printing technique to the point of perfection, nothing important changed until 1854. In this year, Japans borders were opened by the Americans to the outside world.

The production of Japanese woodblock prints

In the course of the development of the printing technique a specialization of the craftsmen that are involved in the production of prints and books can be seen quite early.

In China painters, engravers, printers and bookbinders participated in the production. The separation of the different crafts was so distincted that even whole towns specialized on one or another. That is why half-finished products had to be brought from one city to another to be processed.

In Japan, publishers took care of the coordination of the production. Engravers, printers and bookbinders were employed by the publisher in his workshop. Publisher bought studies from artists who worked as a freelance or made high-potential artists work in their studio giving them assignments. Only few artists printed their prints in their own studio, e.g. Okumura Masanobu.

The exact sketches of the artist (black-and-white paintings) are sticked mirror-imaged to printing plates made of cherry or magnolia wood by the engraver. Now the paper is removed layer by layer until it is so thin that the lines of the original sketch can be seen through. First, the engraver cuts around these lines and then the wood in all the areas of the print which will be white is taken out. Only the sketched lines remain elevated. This is the so-called "key block", the printing plate for the outlines. With this block, a first black-and-white print is produced.

In addition to the outlines the engraver cuts out two "kentô" (register marks): a mark shaped as an angle in lower left corner and one shaped as a beam on the upper left side, which is around three centimetres long. For multi-colour printing, a bigger amount of those testing prints is produced showing both register marks the wrong way round. These "kentô" enable the printer to place the paper sheet on exactly the same position as before on every printing plate. This guarantees an exact adjustment of printing areas. The artist decides where to put which colour on the print. Following these instructions, printing plates are cut for every colour. Therefore up to 25 woodblocks are produced.
The colours, mixtures of vegetables and mineral components, are prepared by the printer. After applying the colour to the printing plate the paper sheet is pressed against the block with the "baren" (a rubber containing a solid core which is wrapped up in bamboo leaves) which is moved rotaiting. By changing the kind of applying the colour and the intensity of the rubbing, the printer can influence the structure of the colour.

Qualification of Japanese Woodblock prints

Amongst the titles of the series and the illustration we find the signature of the artist and - usually - the publisher's mark on a Japanese woodblock print. The publisher took care of financing and selling the prints.

From around 1770 on, woodblock prints had to be censored by decree of the government. From 1790 on, there were own censor marks. At the beginning of the 19th century those marks were temporarily combined with the date in one sign. Afterwards we usually find only one censor mark. From around 1840 to 1845 the prints are judged by two censors. From 1845 on there were own date stamps with exact dating information besides the censor marks, e.g. on Hiroshige (1797-1858) or Kunisada (1786-1864) prints. Apart from rare exceptions, the engravers' or the printers' names are shown only on prints produced after around 1850.

Actors and also courtesans usually have own coat of arms (mon) which is shown on their clothes. Therefore those people can be identified without actually mentioning their names on the print. The actors role which is illustrated on the print, can be identified usually by comparing the illustrations with preserved theatre programs. If this is possible, even the month of the production of one print can be found out.

Division of Japanese woodblock prints in periods

Edo

All Japanese woodblock prints which were produced in the Edo-era (from around 1650 to 1868) can be divided into three periods: the primitive, the classical and the decadent period.

Moronobu, Sukenobu and the artists of the Kaigetsudô-school (around 1700 to 1720) who were famous for their illustrations showing bijin (beautiful women) belonged to the artists of the primitive period. Okumura Masanobu (1696-1764) was among these artists, too. In his sketches, he shows a great diversity, as Nishimura Shigenaga (1697-1758) also does, drawing the first illustrations showing figures in landscapes. The artists of the Torii-school like Kiyonobu (1664-1729) or Kiyomitsu (1735-1785) mainly showing actors in their prints belong to the primitive artists, too.

Harunobu (1724-1770) with his gentle illustrations of women was the first artist of the classical period, followed by Koryûsai (active around 1764 -1788) and Kiyonaga (1752-1815) working in a quite similar style at the beginning. However, Kiyonaga strongly influenced the further development of Japanese woodblock prints with his illustrations of the everyday life in Edo. Koryûsai developed an own powerful type of illustrating women in his last artistic period. Utamaro I. (1753-1806) played an outstanding role in classical period drawing wonderful portraits of women. Toyokuni I. (1769-1825) who was famous for his illustrations of actors and women belongs to the artists of the classical period, too.

His pupil Kunisada (1786-1864) whose early illustrations of women show a high quality already belong to the decadent artists because he started to produce large amounts of prints later on. Even his pupil drew sketches which were published under his name. However, Eizan (1787-1867), whose illustrations of women are strongly influenced by Utamaro, and Eisen (1790-1848) who designed remarkable illustrations of women and landscapes are decribed as decadent artists, too. Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) who designed in addition to imaginative illustrations showing scenes from the Japanese history and many Japanese legends also some few landscapes is also among the decadent artists. His sketches already show an influence of the western world.

As early as at the end of the 18th century, Toyoharu (1735-1814), founder of the Utagawa-school, established illustrations of landscapes on woodblock prints within the scope of the Ukiyo-e. There are two great artists designing mainly landscapes: the ingenius Hokusai (1760-1849) who is well-known in Europe and the United States for his "Great Wave at Kanagawa" from the "36 views of Mount Fuji"-series and Hiroshige (1797-1858). Both strongly influenced the European arts (particularly artists of the impressionism and the art noveau).

Ôsaka

The production of Japanese woodblock prints in Ôsaka started around 1780. Mainly illustrations of actors were designed here. Artists like Sadanobu (1809-1879), Sadakage (active between around 1818 and 1844) or Hirosada (active 1819-1865) drew powerful portraits of actors, but also some landscapes.

Late stage

Important artists of the second half of the 19th century were Ogata Gekkô (1859-1920), Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912) and Taiso Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), who was famous for his "100 views of the moon"-series. In this period, many artists like Kôno Bairei (1844-1895) who were mainly active as painters, published woodblock prints (usually books).

Shin-hanga - New prints

In the first half of the 20th century Japanese woodblock printing is marked by landscapes by Kawase, Hasui (1883-1957) and illustrations of women by Itô Shinsui (1898-1972) or Torii Kotondo (1900-1976). Until today, the tradition of woodblock printing exists in Japan.