History of Japanese Prints

Japanese prints are time-honored artistic symbols and can be found today on a variety of decorative products from calendars to posters. Yet these woodblock paintings also have a rich history influenced by Japanese culture over the course of three centuries. Originally inspired by life in the urban areas of Tokyo and Kyoto, these works of art also depicted the striking people and landscapes in which ordinary Japanese people took pride.

Wood prints made in Japan are known as Ukiyo-e, which means "pictures of a floating world" and is derived from wordplay on a Buddhist term meaning "suffering world." These paintings came to prominence in Japan throughout the 17th through 20th centuries.

Ukiyo-e played a distinct role in Japanese cultural life, providing a type of ornamental pleasure and entertainment to a wide variety of people. These affordable woodblock paintings functioned much like posters do today--as decorations, as provocative art, and as a window to an enticing outside world. Japanese prints also came in the form of portraits depicting interesting cultural figures in the middle and lower classes, most notably the captivating courtesans and geishas found in Japan's urban areas. In a repressive society ruled for 300 years by military dictators where outlets for expression were scarce, these paintings were a sought-after source of enjoyment to everyday Japanese people.

The 1620s marked the birth of Japanese prints, which were first popularized in the 1670s by Tokyo artist Hishikawa Moronobu, whose single-color paintings depicted scenes of metropolitan Japanese life. Thus began what is now known as the Edo (Tokyo) period, during which a class of artists and merchants began producing art, including woodblock paintings. This art was sometimes used to illustrate storybooks, but then rose to popularity as Kabuki Theater advertisements and prints of city life. In 1842, the struggling national government banned all Ukiyo-e prints of entertainers as part of an overarching attempt to limit the urban population's consumption of goods and services. Yet in 1868 cultural tides began to shift as anti-government forces took control and began the Meiji (Enlightened Rule) Restoration, whose newfound expansionism and contact with the Western world influenced Japanese prints. With a growing emphasis on Western artwork, prints quickly began to lose popularity in Japan and became almost worthless. At the same time, European artists from Vincent Van Gogh to Claude Monet found inspiration in Ukiyo-e, taking in an influence now known as Japonism. Moving into the 20th Century, Japanese prints experienced a brief revival during the Taisho and Showa periods, and painters produced portraits and landscapes that were imported widely by the United States.

Japanese prints first depicted images of life in the city, with a focus on popular entertainment such as Kabuki Theater with its colorful costumes and dramatic actors, as well as sumo wrestlers. Strikingly beautiful courtesans who made their homes in urban pleasure quarters were perhaps the most prevalent theme of Ukiyo-e. Portraits and scenes of courtship and ceremonial rituals portrayed their daily lives. In the mid 18th Century, this focus turned to geisha, who were also highly attractive entertainers of men, but who were not prostitutes and chose their clients selectively. In the 19th and 20th centuries, nature became a popular print art theme in Japan, showing off the nation's eye-catching landscapes, from Mount Fuji to shores of the Pacific Coast.

At its inception, Japanese print-making was conducted by city artisans who made affordable decorations for the home. The making of these prints was a collaborative venture, starting with an artist who designed the ink print, a calligrapher to add any accompanying text, and a publisher who managed the final product. Next, the print was completed by a printer, paper maker, and block maker who fastened the image onto a wooden canvas. Up until the 20th century, artisans used vegetable extracts to color the prints, sometimes exposing the art to the light to achieve new shades.