How did he came up to be a Woodblock Engraver? What is his work?

Could you tell me why you became a woodblock engraver?

 

 Because Woodblock Printer was our family business, I started to learn the skills after I graduated high school. Our family field was first to do the Wood block printing. However, since the engraver we used to order the graving became not able to do his work because of his age, I learned the skills from him and started to work as an engraver. Well… it wasn’t something special for me to be an engraver, since I was used to these skills from my youth. I was about 30 years when I became able to work alone. (In his work place, Printer and Engraver work in a same place, facing each other.)

 

Are there anything special from others by dividing the work as a Printer and Engraver in the whole family?

 
 It is special that I can easily tell changes whenever I came up with. There are many cases that the works need to be engraved a little deeper, or a little wider. Even in these cases it would be easy to tell by working in a family.
 

About Woodblock Printing

What kind of works do you mainly create?

 

 I sometimes create “Ukiyo-e” but my main works will be “Senjafuda”. Talking about Ukiyo-e, there are many orders to reprint just the same as the old painting.On the other hand, most of the works in Senjafuda is made for those who collect them as a hobby. The motif is mainly about the old days in Edo, but sometimes there are some unusual orders like what client loves, or sometimes about engraver, lantern for steeplejack, and about a play for those who likes Kabuki.
Others, there are envelopes and visiting cards that I make. I also used to make chopsticks holders and matches label in Woodblock Printing, but nowadays, there are mostly no orders like these.

 

Tell us how to distinguish Woodblock Printing and usual Printing.

 

 It would be easy for us and for those who are related to these jobs, but it might be a little difficult to distinguish for amateurs. The easiest way is to look at the back of the print. Since we rub the Baren hard, the color comes out into the back of the page. By looking at the ink, you can judge that the work is made by Woodblock Printing. The ink will not come out when it is made by usual printer.

 

Some of the old Ukiyo-e works still exists. Does old Woodblock works still exists too?

 

 In the old days, Woodblocks were not kept carefully as we do now. Since the board was expensive, after printing, they were used to be flattered and reused to be engraved. For that reason, old woodblocks mostly doesn’t exist.  Also, Woodblock printing was not a high-class item in Edo era. Since these were treated as publications, most of these are not kept carefully. For these reasons, many of the woodblocks that still remains are those that were spread to places abroad and kept in that country. As so, old pictures has to be remade in the same design to be printed.

 

What type of wood do you use to make a woodblock printing?

 
 Cherry wood is most used. It’s easy to engrave because it’s fine and hard. This is why we can make these thin lines. We sometimes use “Honoki-Wood“, but because it is a little soft, it’s difficult to make thin lines.
 

Are Woodblock works able to reuse many times?

 
 We can reuse it quite a lot. It might be ruined if you use it 1000 times at a time, but it is possible to use it 200 at a time and reprint whenever the previous works has been sold. Even for us, there are some works that remains for more than 40 years. If you print 1000 times at a time, the wood will be soften by the ink and the roughness will be flattened. However, if you print it 200 times at a time, it won’t be flattened by drying the wood in each time. Also, not to flatten the wood we don’t wash the wood until we change the works color.
 

How long does it takes to finish one Ukiyo-e?

 
 Since we change the woodblock in each color, it would take about a month including making these works. It would take about a week to 10days to determine the shape of the work and need another week to 10 days to make each woodblock divided in colors.
 

About his works

Do you even print western paintings in Japanese Paper?

 

 Yes, the paper must be tough enough to be printed many times. In Japanese Paper, “Dosa”, which contains glue and alums not to spread the ink too much, is included. Without them, Japanese Paper would easily be ruined or colors printed will be easily removed. Woodblock printings can be sunburned by the sun, but is much tough than the usual printings.
Even in Japanese skills we use blur techniques, so the skills needed will be same in western paintings. In woodblock paintings, color can be changed by shading colors and overlapping with others. All the colors are made by mixing each color. For example, purple is made by mixing blue and red colors and green is made by mixing yellow and azure colors.

What do you think is the best part to show your skills in making woodblock printing?

 

In Ukiyo-e, the lines has strengths since they are first written by a writing brush. To copy these lines, it is a hard task and needs to pay attention. In figure painting, face line and nose line, Hairline would be important. I pay attention a lot in these places because the line has to be engraved clearly.

Passion for traditional craft

You often make a presentation in the traditional craft demonstration don’t you?

 

 To become fully qualified in this field, people needs long time and there are somewhat difficult to say this job as a proper work. Many people doesn’t even know that this job exists. I participate to talk and perform for those people to have good opportunities to know about the existence of the work.