Glossaries
J Noel Chiappa has produced a very useful
glossary.
List of Ukiyo-e terms and print sizes (Wikipedia)
Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World (Wikipedia)
The Woodblock Prints of Utagawa Hiroshige
Miscellaneous
Sizes of Prints
By the late 18th century, a standard set of formats for printing blocks and paper were being used in the commercial production of woodblock prints. Edo publishing houses agreed to use two standard paper sizes: the ōbōsho sheet (390 x 530 mm) and the kōbosho sheet (350 x 470 mm). Half an ōbōsho sheet gave the 'standard-large' ōban sheet of 390 x 265 mm; half a kōbosho sheet gave the 'medium-large' aiban sheet of 350 x 235 mm.
Each ōban or koban sheet could be further subdivided when printed with two or more designs. These smaller prints could then be sold individually more cheaply than the single prints made using a full-sized sheet.
[Forrer 2017 p.19-20]
ōbōsho
53 x 39 cm
ōban
39 x 26.5 cm
half ōbōsho
chūban
26.5 x 19.5 cm
half ōban divided along its short axis
sanchōgake
26.5 x 13 cm
third ōban divided along its short axis
yotsugiri
19.5 x 13.25 cm
quarter ōban
chu-tanzaku
39 x 13.25 cm
half ōban divided along its long axis
o-tanzaku
39 x 17.6 cm
third ōbōsho divided along its short axis
choban
53 x 19.5 cm
half ōbōsho divided along its long axis
kokonotsugiri
17.6 x 13 cm
ninth ōbōsho
shikishi
19.5 x 17.6cm
kōbosho
47 x 35 cm
aiban
35 x 23.5 cm
half kōbosho
koban
23.5 x 17.5 cm
half aiban divided along its short axis
ai-tanzaku
35 x 11.75 cm
half aiban divided along its long axis
ko-tanzaku
35 x 7.8 cm
third aiban divided along its long axis
ō-ōban
about 58 x 32 cm
'large ōban'
nagaban
about 56 x 25 cm
shikishiban
about 26 x 23 cm
often used for surimono
yoko-e
horizontal/landscape orientation
tate-e
vertical/portrait orientation
ōgi-e
folding fan with a picture or illustration
uchiwa-e
rigid fan with a picture or illustration
harimaze
prints of two or more images on one sheet; originally intended to be cut out and displayed separately
surimono
prints that were privately commissioned for special occasions such as New Year; produced in smaller numbers for a mostly educated audience
(Wikipedia)
Reference:
Prints from ōban sheets
Ōban
390 x 265 mm
Chūban
190 x 265 mm
Sanchōgake
130 x 265 mm
Yotsugiri
190 x 132 mm
Ōban
265 x 390 mm
Ō-tanzaku
390 x 177 mm
Chū-tanzaku
390 x 132 mm
Prints from aiban sheets
Aiban
about 350 x 235 mm
Koban
about 235 x 170 mm
Ai-tanzaku
about 350 x 117 mm
Ko-tanzaku
about 350 x 78 mm
Miscellaneous Paper Sizes
Shikishiban
about 260 x 230 mm
Nagaban
about 560 x 250 mm
References: Memorial Catalogue, Strange, J Noel Chiappa, Forrer 2017
Types of Printing and Colouring
nishiki-e
separate woodblocks are carved for every colour and used in a stepwise fashion (Wikipedia)
aizuri-e
blue printing
(more at J Noel Chiappa)
sumizuri
printing from a relief block in black ink to produce black-on-white texts and images
sumizuri with usuzumi
printing from two or more relief blocks in various shades of black ink
tashokuzuri
printing from multiple relief blocks in many saturated colours
tanshokuzuri
printing from three relief blocks in black and a limited range of light tints, usually pink and gray
kappazuri
stenciling, applying colours by brush to sheets printed with line-only illustrations, using a separately cut stencil for each colour
bokashi
printing areas in one colour of graduated intensity by the differential application of a pigment to a relief block
hissai
applying colours by brush to sheets printed with line illustrations
karazuri
impressing patterns into a sheet of paper from an uninked relief block
References:
Finding Japanese Prints on the Internet
John Resig's Japanese Woodblock Print Search contains over 200 000 prints. The site also has an extensive list of links to other sources of prints.
Ritsumeikan University image search (in Japanese) contains links to over 200 000 prints.
A list of artist names in Japanese can be found here.
Japanese Woodblock Prints on Other Websites
Katsushika Hokusai: Catalogue Raisonne
The Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) Project
The Kuniyoshi Project
Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Utagawa Hiroshige II
Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Chikanobu
J Noel Chiappa's website contains some excellent material on
Hiroshige and Japanese woodblock printing in general.
Encyclopedia of Woodblock Printmaking
Tokaido hitoritabi (Japanese)
A modern day walk along the route of the Tokaido highway. The site features Hiroshige's Tokaido print
(Hoeido edition) of each station and photographs of the places as they are now.
@Cascadesssss has produced an
interactive google map that shows the location of prints from a
number of series by Hiroshige and Hokusai.
Video
Wright's Tokaido (Independant Arts Production on YouTube, 36 min)
A documentary about an original album of Hiroshige’s 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road annotated by the celebrated American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Thirty-two Aspects of Women by Yoshitoshi (Independant Arts Production on YouTube, 27 min)
A new film by the creators of Wright’s Tokaido. A documentary on an original album of Yoshitoshi’s famous 32 Aspects. An educational, documentary style look at a recently rediscovered classic by one of Japan’s most controversial print artists.
The Old Tokaido (MN Films on YouTube)
Follow the footsteps of Hiroshige along the Tokaido, 175 years after he travelled between Tokyo and Kyoto.
Days:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Contact
I can be contacted at john_at_hiroshige.org.uk. Obviously replace _at_ with the obvious.
I have no Japanese, I don't work in the art business and I don't have any specialist art history training but I do try to make sure that all the information on this website comes from reputable sources.