The Japanese Woodblock - Moku Hanga

History

Originally woodblock printing came from China to Japan, probably around the 8th century. The first woodblock prints were black and white line cuttings and served the purposes of the Buddhist religion. Later illustrated books were printed this way.

The Japanese woodblock had its prime during the Edo period (1603 - 1868). In 1603, after hundreds of years of power struggles amongst aristocrats, the country got back to internal peace with the victory of Ieyasu Tokugawa. In the new capital Edo (today Tokyo), far from the emperors palace at Kyoto and thus independent from the aristocratic culture, grew a wealthy civil middle-class with an own cultural life. There was a big interest in theatre and other entertainment, actors and courtesans became stars. The artists started to reproduce this "flowing, passing life" (ukiyo) and their protagonists in their works.
The woodblock developed from the early black and white prints, which later were coloured by hand, to highly complex multi colour prints.
Japanese prints of these times were done in collaboration work. Ordered by a publisher, the artist did the design for the print. The production of it also involved craftsmen, who were highly skilled in techniques of cutting, printing and papermaking.

Woodblock artists like Harunobu, Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige created masterpieces. After the opening of Japan the Japanese woodblock prints were available to the Western world too, where they aroused huge interest and had strong impact to the arts, f. e. to Art Nouveaux, single artists as Van Gogh, Gauguin and many more.
However in Japan the traditional woodblock print lost its meaning and many publishing houses and studios closed. Artists were handling this situation in different ways. The shin-hanga movement ("new print") tried to revive the traditional woodblock print in creating prints in collaboration of artist, cutter and printer, which were also in their motifs familiar to the older prints. The artists of the sosaku-hanga movement ("creative print") however started to cut and print their woodblocks themselves. While some of them did very experimental works, the sosaku artists found many new and interesting ways to bring the woodlbock print to a contemporary level.

Technique

With its lively luminous colours full of nuances, the Japanese technique, which is based on the use of water-based inks and the technique of hand-printing with the baren, differs clearly from the Western technique of relief printing by the use of oil-based inks and a press. While the oil-based inks are printed on the surface of the paper, the water-based inks sink into the paper and, if printed in multiple layers, overlap themselves in translucent colours.
Another important part of the Japanese woodcut technique is the kento registration system, which allows to register the paper perfectly to the different blocks for printing multi-colour prints.
In the following section we give a short description about the printing process and the kento registration system. For further information we refer to the barenforum.

Materials

The traditionally used wood for moku hanga was the fine, hard wood of the Japanese cherry. There are other woods which can be used today, such as linden and poplar. It is also possible to use plywood, but it tends to split during cutting.

The blocks are cut with several knifes and gouges. The most important knife, used for the line cutting, is the hangito.

For colour, pigment diluted with water, watercolour, and gouache can be used. For printing black, sumi ink is recommended.

Paste, nori, gives body to the pigment, so it can be absorbed well from the paper. The traditional paste is made from rice flour. A modern alternative is paste from methyl cellulose.

Recipe for rice paste

1 part rice flour
8 parts water

Dissolve the rice flour in a pot filled with 2 parts of the water. Add the rest of the water at middle heat while constantly stirring, until the paste becomes translucent. Keep stirring while the paste cools down.
This paste should be kept in the refrigerator and remains good for approx. three days.

Recipe for methyl cellulose paste

Stir 25 g methyl cellulose powder in ½ l water and let it dissolve.
This paste can be kept at room temperature and preserves with no limit.

Separate brushes are kept for pigment and for paste. Traditionally the pigment is applied with the hakobi, a brush made from bamboo, while the paste is applied with a stick. Horse hair brushes are used for mixing paste and pigment directly on the block.
Maru bake, modern form of printing brush (left and behind), and hanga bake (right)

Washi, the traditional Japanese paper, has its own craft tradition and history. For the purpose of printing mostly made from kozo, a mulberry tree, this long-fibered paper withstands repeated printing while damp. The quality of the paper is a key part of a finished print, as each kind of paper shows its character clearly in printing. A few hours before printing the paper must be moistened.

Printing is done by hand with the baren, the traditional Japanese printing tool. The baren is a circular pad which consists of a flat spiral of cord, a backing disc and a cover of bamboo sheath, which is bound together on the back through the handle. The bamboo sheath has to be changed regularly as it gets worn out if used often. There are alternatives to this: barens made from plastic and ball-bearing barens, which print over small steel ball bearings held in place by a perforated screen. It is also possible to produce a homemade baren with a disc from cardboard or plywood, using a cord and a handkerchief as a cover, or a wooden spoon can also be used. But for a perfect result, a baren is recommended.

Baren with bamboo sheath – ball-bearing baren – plastic baren

Printing

First the pigment is applied using a brush, then some dabs of paste are placed beside it using a stick. Pigment and paste are now blended together with a printing brush in circular motions. It is important not to use the same brush for that or to mix pigment and paste in a bowl.
The moistened paper is then put into the kento marks. To protect the paper it can be covered by a sheet of thin paper, called ategami. The baren should be pressed against the back of the paper in circular motions, with the force coming from the shoulder. When printing several blocks for one print it is important to keep the paper evenly moistened through each printing.

Kento registration system

The kento registration system provides precise registration of the paper while printing.
It consists of two marks: the kagi, a right-angle mark in the lower right corner of the block, and the hikitsuke, a horizontal mark near the left corner. These marks must be cut into the block (traditionally with a chisel called kentonomi) and have to be transferred onto every block of the print. They have to be approx. 2 mm deep, so the paper can be placed easily into them. It should be registered first into the kagi and then leaned against the hikitsuke.

Kento marks hikitsuke (left) and kagi (right)

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Copyright 2006 Eva Pietzcker and Miriam Zegrer