Cats, Craftsmen, and Culture: an Analysis of Ukiyo-e Woodblock Printing
“ Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; caring not a whit for the pauperism staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating world…” - From Tales Of The Floating World, Asai Ryoi, 1661 [1]
Three Kabuki Actors Playing Hanetsuki, Utagawa Kuniyasu (ca. 1853) [1]
After a period of war and turbulence in Japan, the Edo or Tokugawa period (1603-1867) was a remarkable time of peace, internal growth, and the development of a new urban lifestyle and culture. Ukiyo-e, or pictures of the floating world, were paintings and woodblock printings that often depicted the nature of society and pleasure in Japan’s rising entertainment districts. The ukiyo-e technique of the Edo period exhibited new technological advancements, like full polychrome painting, and cultural values of the time; these values include the cyclical nature of life, and concepts related to the brothels and kabuki theaters that circulated in the “floating world” [2].
This project was done in hopes that, through studying trends in visuals and aesthetics that emerged in ukiyo-e artwork, I may gain a deeper understanding of Edo culture. Additionally, I also anticipated that learning the technical aspect of this practice would allow me to gain a sense of the precision and foresight that was necessary for ukiyo-e craftsmen.
How It Was Done
Before beginning my work on this project, I wanted to learn about the craft and workshop to aid my understanding of the process.
The Craft
The entire process of woodblock printing is fairly easy to grasp. There are four different types of individuals used to make a single print: artist, carver, printer, and publisher [3]. I used this 1956 film of Hasui Kawase, who is highly regarded as one of Japan’s most important (printed) landscape artists of the 20th century, and others to get a good idea of what aspects of the process were delegated under each role. Omitting the publishing steps (as they are not absolutely necessary to understand the craft), according to this film, the chain of events goes like this:
Artist designs their image, inks it onto washi paper, and delivers it to the carver to make a key-block.
The carver pastes the design onto the wood. While this is drying, he sharpens his tool on a sharpening block and, once it dries, carves away at the surface of the wood everywhere but the outline. He uses a smaller tool to cut along the outline and a mallet and chisel to clear away larger areas. He then makes multiple proof sheets of the outline using this key-block to send back to the artist.
In this step, the artist creates pigments and paints them on each proof sheet to indicate where the carver should leave future color blocks untouched. These papers are, again, sent back to the carver.
The carver completes the same process seen in Step 2, except this time he carves out everything but where the color indicates (instead of the outline). The key and color blocks are all now delivered to the printer.
The printer first prepares his baren, which consists of a sheet of bamboo sheath covering a puck of 48 sheets of rice paper that are pasted together. He moistens the papers in preparation for printing, and prepares his pigments. The printer places the key block on his table and uses a brush to distribute the pigment onto it. He places the paper onto the key block and uses the baren to transfer the pigment onto the sheet. He repeats the same process for the color blocks; if the color does not line up with the outline, he uses a carving tool to move the register marks that tell him where to line up the corners of the printing paper. After printing all of the color blocks, you can see the final color image [3].
The Workshop
Triptych print, Utagawa Kunisada, 1857 [4]
This triptych print of women enacting the process of woodblock cutting and printing was made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1857 [4]. This was one of the most helpful primary sources in seeing how the woodblock printing process was carried out, as it shows someone performing each step in the process and gives an idea of what the workshop would have looked like at the time. Kunisada was one of the most important ukiyo-e woodblock printers, and his work often depicted portraits of women [5]. It is easy to deduce that this fact is why this image shows women in action, despite woodblock printing being a male-dominated craft. When analyzing this image I was sure to be conscious of what details in this image could have been purely out of stylistic choice. Regardless, this image shows carving fine lines and larger detail in the woodblocks, sharpening the tools, wetting the paper, painting (and presumably waiting to print), and hanging the sheets to dry. Though some steps or timelines are not shown, this image also verifies the authenticity of the process outlined in the Hasui Kawase video [3].
Cultural Analysis on Ukiyo-e Through Cats
Having everything from cat cafes to cat islands, the Japan we know today could be described as cat-crazy. Where did this obsession come from? Japanese people's relationship with cats dates back to long before the Edo period. Buddhist monks traveling from China to Japan brought cats to watch over their belongings on the ship, as they were thought to have good luck and protected sacred texts from being destroyed by mice.
(Right: Catfish/なまず, 1841, and Pufferfish/ふぐ , 1841 [6])
Though Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of the last of the great ukiyo-e masters, was popular for his prints of heroic individuals and the monsters they fought, his deep love for cats was almost just as widely known [6]. Many of the prints he made showed cats in a variety of situations, ranging from everyday to fantastical idealizations. An example of a more creative use of the cat’s figure is seen in woodblock prints Catfish (なまず) and Pufferfish (ふぐ) in which he arranged cats in the shape of kana [6].
(Left: Hazy Moon cat, Sheng 1846 [6])
His creativity was also manifested in designs with more serious implications. The Tenpō Reforms during the Tokugawa period led to the implementation of oppressive policy intended to reinforce the power of the Shogunate and banned any representation of kabuki actors, courtesans, or geisha [6]. They felt that these images were too focused on a lavish lifestyle and that banning them would maintain societal order and public morals. In response to this, Kuniyoshi illustrated these characters in animal form, using subtle clues to indicate kabuki actors’ identities [6]. In my own design, I wanted to pay homage to Kuniyoshi’s love for cats, but more importantly, his rejection of the oppression of the Tokugawa Shogunate through his art.
Part I.I Design
Design. Before anything, I needed to decide what image I wanted to depict. Because of time constraints and my own skill level, I decided to choose a design that was fairly simple, one with broad strokes and little detail. Also, to express some of my own creativity as a designer (and because I felt as though my own design would be easier to replicate), I did not mimic an already created ukiyo-e print; the design of the finished product is completely of my own doing, and out of my own inspiration–not based off an original historical print.
Tracing. Once I had decided on my image, I first traced it onto washi paper using a pencil; this way I could make sure it looked the way I wanted and make any adjustments needed. I then used India ink and a brush to trace the penciled lines and create my official outline. This is the essence of the key-block.
Part I.II Rice Paste
Making Rice Paste. All this simple process required was a small amount of rice and a strainer. Though this step was not typically performed by the craftsman, I made my own rice paste to follow the process as closely as possible. The sticky nature of this step made the paste difficult to work with, and I ended up estimating how much water and rice was necessary using my own judgment of what I thought would be good paste–adding water when I felt necessary and somewhat combining the mashing and sieve steps.
Adhering the design. Despite the inexact measures I took to create the paste, it worked well in adhering the design to the woodblock. Like I had seen in the video, I placed the middle of the design first, smoothing the paper out from the center. I learned that there is a certain balance of force and caution needed to successfully do this. One one hand you need to smooth firmly enough to get all of the wrinkles out, but if you smooth too firmly you might rip the paper (like I did around the lily pads).
Part II. Carving
Taking about eight hours over the span of two days, the carving was definitely the most time consuming part of this entire process. Once the washi paper with the design was adhered onto the block with rice paste and dried, I began taking out areas of the wood that were not needed for the outline. I generally used wider tools for larger areas and smaller tools for more detail, carving out everywhere except the outlines drawn on the paper.
Because cherry wood was not available, I ended up using poplar wood; the way this specific wood splintered made it very easy to chip off an important part of my outline (which I ended up doing a few times). As I went on, I realized I could use a large, broad tool to dig straight down and cut off the grain just before my outline, then use a smaller tool to wedge into the wood and pry up the areas I didn’t need. Throughout the hours I worked on this, I was able to somewhat hone this skill, learning the behavior of the grain and predicting when it was about to take up part of my outline with it.
Part III. Printing
Inking the Block. This step was fairly straightforward; I used water-soluble block printing ink and an old brush I had laying around, as it was the closest thing I could find. I simply used the brush to cover the entirety of the block with ink.
Transferring the Ink. Because I did not have a baren, I used the back of a bamboo spoon to press the paper into the inked block. While this was effective enough, I do think a barren would have applied a more even pressure onto the paper and avoided pressing it down in areas that did not need ink, like I did.
Trial 1.
A while after printing these first two copies, I realized I had completely forgotten a step. I was wondering why the distribution of ink onto my paper seemed somewhat patchy until it occurred to me that I had forgotten to wet the paper. Without this step, I think the ink still transferred well, but to follow the process as closely as possible I still wanted to try it with wet paper.
Trial 2.
For this second trial, I had to use the remnants of my rice paste to glue the last of what washi paper I had together so that it was wide enough for the design. Perhaps the brush I used to wet the paper was at fault, but at first it looked concerningly soggy. I let the paper dry for a little bit and pressed it the same way I did before, and I think the ink transferred much better. There was some bleeding (I think because it was water-soluble ink), but overall the details came out much more clearly.
Reflection
Even in the (relatively) short period of time that I was working on this project, I still feel that I gained quite a bit of tacit knowledge. Though I did not have the time to work on carving multiple blocks, my progress in carving from starting point to finish is visible. When looking at my original design, you can see that the final print is missing an entire two blades of grass at the top due to my clumsiness in carving. These mishaps became far and fewer in between by the time I finished, as I came to understand the behavior of the wood. As I worked, I was also able to get a feel for which tools worked best for which tasks, and how to use them most effectively. This was not something I could have understood fully from watching videos; practice was necessary to learn this. By looking back on my process I was also able to realize I had failed to follow the original plan, which was something I only noticed by analyzing my final product.
Additionally, by taking up the artist, carver and printer’s roles, I was able to get an understanding of how all of these steps fit together. Kunisada’s triptych print makes the process almost seem instantaneous, like an assembly-line interaction between the different specialties of craftsmen. From the video [3], and from my own experience, I know that, rather than working linearly, the initial process bounces back and forth from artist and carver, which is not shown by Kunisada. In doing all three parts myself, I also know that each takes a very different amount of time; if the workshop were to be streamlined all in one place, this would have caused congestion in the order of the workshop. Because of this, I would imagine each craftsman’s working space would have granted them a bit more privacy and space to work with. Readdressing my suspicion of what aspects of Kunisada’s print [4] were up to stylistic choice, I wonder whether the fluidity indicated is Kunisada’s way of emphasizing how much faster (relatively) woodblock printing was–rather than perfectly portraying the workspace.
Given the time, resources, and skill at my disposal, this experiment wasn’t perfect. Regardless of my wood choice, I still developed a tacit understanding of the grain; though my baren was a bamboo spoon, I still realized the delicate balance of pressure needed to transfer a clear design. During this process I was able to enter the mind of the craftsman, an experience that taught me a great deal in physical skill, but also to meditate and reflect on my work, and contemplate the implication of my art.
Works Cited
[1] “Japanese Prints of the Edo Period.” Brooklynmuseum.org, 2022, www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/2132.
[2] Department of Asian Art. “Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo-e Style.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ukiy/hd_ukiy.htm (October 2003)
[3] Swan Prints. “Hasui Kawase Creating a Woodblock Print [English Narration].” YouTube, 19 June 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQmF3HHyWwI.
[4] “Triptych Print | British Museum.” The British Museum, British Museum, 2017, www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1907-0531-0-204?_gl=1%2a1pyagcz%2a_ga%2aMTQzMjMxNTgwNi4xNjQ4NzA0NzY4%2a_ga_08TLB9R8X1%2aMTY0ODcwNDc2OC4xLjAuMTY0ODcwNDc2OC42MA...
[5] “Utagawa Kunisada | Japanese Artist | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2022, www.britannica.com/biography/Utagawa-Kunisada.
[6] Kennedy, Philip. “Obsessed with Cats: The Ukiyo-e Prints of Utagawa Kuniyoshi - Illustration Chronicles.” Illustration Chronicles, 10 Oct. 2016, illustrationchronicles.com/obsessed-with-cats-the-ukiyo-e-prints-of-utagawa-kuniyoshi.
