Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
This is the next in our 'David's Choice' series, where Tokyo-based woodblock printmaker David Bull introduces some of his favourite prints. This episode takes on a very large topic - Hiroshige’s masterwork ’53 Stations of the Tōkaidō’.
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The old restaurant mentioned in the video - at Mariko Station - is called Chojiya. Their English website is here:
chojiya.info/english
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
The Mokuhankan Collection (antique prints in our own collection) is:
mokuhankan.com/collection
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
0:00 Introduction
4:22 Down the Tōkaidō Road: Starting at Nihonbashi
5:53 Tenth Station - Hakone
9:52 Seventh Station - Hiratsuka
12:17 Eleventh Station - Mishima
13:30 Twentieth Station - Mariko
14:52 Thirty-sixth Station - Akasaka
16:38 River Crossing Scenes
20:55 Ito Susumu, Kakegawa, and Discussion
26:39 Opening the Takamizawa Set
32:59 Looking at Smaller Sets
35:38 Bigger (Double Oban) Set and Weather on the Tōkaidō
38:43 Comparison of Different Editions of Chiryu
42:25 The Tōkaidō Then and Now
46:54 Story Time and Conclusion
This is the next in our 'David's Choice' series, where Tokyo-based woodblock printmaker David Bull introduces some of his favourite prints. This episode takes on a very large topic - Hiroshige’s masterwork ’53 Stations of the Tōkaidō’.
***
The old restaurant mentioned in the video - at Mariko Station - is called Chojiya. Their English website is here:
chojiya.info/english
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
The Mokuhankan Collection (antique prints in our own collection) is:
mokuhankan.com/collection
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
0:00 Introduction
4:22 Down the Tōkaidō Road: Starting at Nihonbashi
5:53 Tenth Station - Hakone
9:52 Seventh Station - Hiratsuka
12:17 Eleventh Station - Mishima
13:30 Twentieth Station - Mariko
14:52 Thirty-sixth Station - Akasaka
16:38 River Crossing Scenes
20:55 Ito Susumu, Kakegawa, and Discussion
26:39 Opening the Takamizawa Set
32:59 Looking at Smaller Sets
35:38 Bigger (Double Oban) Set and Weather on the Tōkaidō
38:43 Comparison of Different Editions of Chiryu
42:25 The Tōkaidō Then and Now
46:54 Story Time and Conclusion


![Any Sufficiently Archaic Technology is Indistinguishable from Magic
In this video, Tokyo-based printmaker Dave Bull shows the entire process of making a batch of woodblock prints from blank paper to finished print - in PPOV style (Printers Point Of View) - with each of the impressions happening in an uncut, unedited, uninterrupted flow, of ten sheets per colour. The viewers can get a very good feeling for the rhythm of the process, and can see just how the pigment/paste balance is controlled along the way.
00:00:00 Daves introduction
00:01:52 Impression #1 : Key block : Black
00:13:15 Impression #2 : Distant lines : Teal
00:17:51 Impression #3 : Bamboo : Light green
00:25:36 Impression #4 : Kimono pattern : Red
00:31:04 Impression #5 : Garden fencing : Brown
00:38:58 Impression #6 : Ground / bamboo : Teal
00:50:45 Impression #7 : Shadow tinting : Purple
00:58:53 Impression #8/9 : Sky gradation : Blue (Each sheet twice)
01:22:09 Impression #10 : Sky gradation : Green
01:29:23 Impression #11 : Worker names / Print title : Embossing
The print used for this demonstration is ‘Takeoff’, which was designed for us by Atelier Sento. It is part of our Dreams of Future Past’ subscription series; information here:
https://mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/...
The block set was carved for us by Taran Casey, and he produced a video on his own YouTube channel showing _that_ process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIYfuYO1sHY
[ Note: there is no narration included in this video, in an attempt to bring you into the undisturbed world of a printers work. Dave will be watching the comments, so drop your questions there, please. (And maybe scan through the comments first, to see if your question has already been answered) ]
There will undoubtedly be questions about the three bowls. They are, from left to right:
- the pigment for that impression (powder pigment mixed with water)
- paste (a starch paste, mixed in water)
- water (used to help balance when the colour starts to get a bit too deep in the prints)
The Mokuhankan website:
https://mokuhankan.com/index.html
Our Twitch stream (live three times a week):
https://www.twitch.com/japaneseprintm...
The Mokuhankan Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/mokuhankan Any Sufficiently Archaic Technology is Indistinguishable from Magic](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HycBmwVHa6Y/mqdefault.jpg)

![Concert for the Printer
Recorded in the Seseragi Studio, Tokyo workroom of woodlbock printmaker David Bull. Young trainee printer Ms. Teiko Fujii was working at her bench, when she was interrupted by a visitor who perched on the railing, and gave her a three-minute concert of birdsong!
[Note: we dont have an ID on this bird; if you know what it is, please let us know in the comments - thanks!] Concert for the Printer](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/If0SKNWUvoo/mqdefault.jpg)




![Ukiyoe Heroes (13) : Fox Moon - carving the colour blocks
This is the third episode in the collection of videos showing the production of the woodblock print version of Jed Henrys Fox Moon design (from his Ukiyoe Heroes series). This one show how the colour blocks are designed and carved.
[Information on the background of this project, and on how to get the prints, can be found at: http://mokuhankan.com/heroes/index.html ] Ukiyoe Heroes (13) : Fox Moon - carving the colour blocks](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K7ZIdt8jZhY/mqdefault.jpg)
