Ukiyo-e is a woodblock print. "Ukiyo" means "now" "modern", so the beautiful woman and kabuki actors, and popular sight-seeing spots in each era were often illustrated.

Hokusai, Hiroshige, Sharaku, Utamaro, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, etc.

Illustrator (what is considered an illustrator?), Ukiyo-e illustrator none, Woodcarver 9, Printer 30

Hokusai's woodblock print series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji", Hiroshige's landscape series "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido", etc.

Most are owned by ukiyo-e collectors and museums worldwide.

It is produced by a team of illustrator, woodcarver, printer, and lastly the publisher that produces the artwork, and this type of work can't be seen anywhere else.

Museums, Ota Memorial Museum of Art has many ukiyoe.

Passport, new 1000 yen bill, merchandise

Ukiyo-e shops in Jinbocho, Tokyo

An artwork that is made during the illustrator's lifetime. Woodblock print that has been printed in that era. If pigment ink is used in prints from the Edo period, then that print is not real, or if reproductions are claimed as first prints, then that is not considered real as well.

"Ukiyo" consists the meaning of trend, so they tend to add "ukiyo" to trendy items such as "ukiyo-e" (print), "ukiyo-gasa" (umbrella), "ukiyo-geta" (wooden clogs), etc. Back then, "paintings" were expensive and only the rich were able to afford. However, ukiyo-e were woodblock prints so they were printed multiple times with less cost, so they were able to make it popular, hence, "ukiyo" + "e" = "ukiyo-e" ("trend" + "image"= "ukiyo-e").

It was like the Instagram in Edo period. People got all the trends from ukiyo-e.

Around 1678, Sumizuri-e, an ukiyo-e using only black ink, was born (Hishikawa Moronobu). "Sumizuri-e" was the start of ukiyo-e, and there were many variations, and eventually evolved into "nishiki-e", an ukiyo-e with various beautiful colors, which is the most common type of ukiyo-e that we see today. Edo/Tokyo

During the Edo period, it is said to be "20 mon" which is equivalent to 400 yen- around one bowl of soba. Cost also varies depending on the publisher of the reproductions and/or contemporary ukiyo-e, now it starts at few hundred dollars, so it is defintely becoming more expensive. The value is increasing.

Bijin-e (beauty prints), Fukei-ga (landscape prints), Yakusha-e (actor prints), Yokai-zu (demon prints), Yurei-e (ghost prints), Sumo-e (sumo prints), Shun-ga (sex prints), Kacho-e (flowers and birds prints), Kodomo-e (children prints), etc. these are some of the genre. The number of prints are infinite.

Japonism

Monet, Van Gogh

"Hokusai Manga" was used to wrap goods like plates and potteries to package, and was shipped overseas mainly to Europe. Then, it mainly got popular after Paris Exposition in 1867.

Woodblock is actually made out of Yamazakura (cherry tree), and washi-paper is Echizen Kisuki Bousho from Fukui prefecture.

The raw materials for Echizen washi are mulberry tree bark fibers and mainly Neri (vegetable sticky liquid, mainly tororo-aoi). Impurities are removed by boiling kozo, etc., and those that cannot be removed are manually removed. The fibers are then softened by pounding. After adding water and glue, the base of the paper is finally completed. A sugeta is placed in the raw material of the paper and shaken back and forth to adjust the thickness. After that, it is removed from the screen girder and pressure is applied to squeeze out the moisture. It is then dried in the sun or in a drying room.

We manage to get them from a long-established wood supplier specifically for ukiyo-e production. Yamazakura trees are decreasing each year, so the costs are increasing. The quality is just right for woodcarving (easy to carve).

Dye ink, pigment ink, vegetable dye, chemical dye

To be a woodblock print, to depict the present.

Similarities: woodblock print, portraying now.

Difference: Technique? (kewari, a very thin-hair detailed carving technique where not many can do anymore). 　　　　 For UKIYO-E PROJECT: limited editions, price range.

Both: Of course it can be pleasing for your eyes, however, there are bumpiness due to the carving and printing, and also the images appear differently depending on the angle you're looking at, so ukiyo-e can be considered as physical art.

Since one of UKIYO-E PROJECT's basics of "ukiyo-e" is "to be a woodblock print", so yes. Back then, printing woodblocks were like today's mass-production (prior to copy machine). Thus, as there's a saying, "things that are not in demand are eliminated", today's woodblock print doesn't exist for it's efficiency. It is now valued as an "art" due to it's warm sense of humanity from the craftsmanship, every print is slightly different, and has a contemporary appeal.

After Meiji period, 200 limited editions became a common number ,however, there is no exact number on the first print runs. If it seems like there will be a demand for it then they will print more, but usually they start with around 50 prints.

2 months per artisan with 6 months of production period

It is the main woodblock with the outline of the print.

It is the colored woodblocks that are added to the main block to turn it into a multi-colored woodblock print.

There is no limit in number of prints, but at UKIYO-E PROJECT we put edition numbers to add value (100-200, it varies depending on the artwork)

8 times

Every craftsman learned and attained the technique from years of practice. So in order to create the best, it is necessary to gather the artisans that are best at what they do and work together. Here at UKIYO-E PROJECT, we produce with the mentality of "ukiyo-e = woodblock print".

We use Echizen Kisuki Bousho, a washi-paper with a history of couple centuries. We work with craftsmen that aquired techniques from the Edo period. The subject is "To depict the present". For UKIYO-E PROJECT that has a goal to pass down the ukiyo-e techniques to future generatation, we believe these "persistence" is a necessary basics.

With offices in LA and in Tokyo, UKIYO-E PROJECT is a contemporary ukiyo-e publisher founded by Yuka Mitsui in 2014 to keep the ukiyo-e craftsmanship thriving by creating a new market for their traditional skills. As the words “ukiyo” and “e” mean “present” and “image” respectively, ukiyo-e naturally depicted popular trends and cultures of their times. Staying true to this philosophy, UKIYO-E PROJECT immortalizes iconic stars and landscapes of today through traditional woodblock prints, which continue to receive extensive press and have been acquired by international institutions such as the British Museum, the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (MAK), and the Miami University Libraries.

Back then, there were thousands of artisans, so the production costs were much less, ukiyo-e were sold for around a bowl of soba. However, today the number of artisans have decreased so it takes time produce, so we are making it in limited editions. Also, here at UKIYO-E PROJECT, we don't produce ukiyo-e as a "media", but rather as "art".

We believe the broad concept of "depicting the present" still continues today. KISS, Iron Maiden, David Bowie are of course not kabuki actors, however, the musicians that we collaborated are the "iconic figures" of today like how kabuki actors were popular in the Edo period.