David Bull
From my window : 2011_11_20
updated
***
The 'Remembering a Carver' video mentioned by Dave is here: youtube.com/watch?v=ij9KXgiyDAc
Dave's Mokuhankan website is here:
mokuhankan.com/index.html
The Twitch streams are here:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
One of the old 'cloud' videos!
youtube.com/watch?v=ecO3LcaCvdU
We learn about how various types of washi were used in Japanese printmaking in the old days, how one particular type - hōsho - became the standard in the 20th century, and we visit the town where most of this paper is currently made.
00:00 Introduction
09:12 Inspecting some old prints
17:40 Into the 20th Century
26:40 The 'Here and Now'
40:22 Over to Echizen
44:23 Dave's conundrum
50:44 Udatsu Craft Museum ... and we meet Murata-san
01:03:52 Back at Mokuhankan
Links
The balloon bomb story:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb
Udatsu Craft Museum:
echizenwashi.jp/english/information/udatsu.html
Mokuhankan
mokuhankan.com/index.html
Our Twitch Stream:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Dave Bull and Ayano Okamura went to visit a nearby papermaking experience - Watashino - organized by a group of papermakers from Shikoku, who recently opened a shop near Sensoji Temple in Asakusa.
Dave and Ayano-san had a ton of fun making the paper and learning from the instructors, and happily recommend the experience to anyone visiting the area.
People in the video:
Dave Bull, owner of Mokuhankan
Ayano Okamura, staff member at Mokuhankan
Osamu Hamada, from family of papermakers in Kochi
Yasuhiro Nishimori, manager of Watashino
Relevant links:
The Watashino reservation page:
https://watashino.style/products/papermaking
Their Instagram:
instagram.com/watashino.style
Their Instagram reel featuring Dave and Ayano:
instagram.com/reel/Cwl-RW7ByDt
Their address:
Asakusa 1-32-11 Taito-ku Tokyo 111-0032
Google map link:
maps.app.goo.gl/gLXLt8WcqCyrw59r6
Chapters
00:00:27 Introduction
00:05:19 Material Preparation
00:17:30 Teacher Demonstration
00:34:40 Our turn ...
00:55:18 Pressing ...
01:00:30 Drying ...
01:22:10 Wrap-up ...
We begin with an overview of the subscription prints published over the past year. This is followed by the usual update on finances and staff, and things wrap up with a scattering of other small news items.
***
Mentioned in the video:
The Hokusai Reborn series: mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/reborn.html
The Kyoto Journey series:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/kyoto_journey.html
New carver Taran Casey's YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@GinkoHanga
The charts shown in the video were quite washed out, and difficult to read. If you are interested in the actual data, .pdf files of the graphs are here:
mokuhankan.com/downloads/charts/2023_update_chart_01.pdf
mokuhankan.com/downloads/charts/2023_update_chart_02.pdf
mokuhankan.com/downloads/charts/2023_update_chart_03.pdf
***
Our online catalogue, where our prints can be found: mokuhankan.com/catalogue/thumbnails.php
Our Twitch stream: twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon page: patreon.com/mokuhankan
Instagram: instagram.com/mokuhankan
Thank you for watching!
0:01 Introduction
1:20 Hokusai Reborn
5:30 A Kyoto Journey
8:50 Year-end financial update
19:40 Other small update items ...
Part one is here: youtube.com/watch?v=RjiR3sKEQtE
References:
The Mokuhankan workshop:
mokuhankan.com/index.html
The description page for this Subscription series:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/reborn.html
A page on the British Museum site discussing the images:
britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hokusai-great-picture-book-everything/rediscovery-hokusai-drawings-everything
Our Twitch channel, both 'live' and 'replay':
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
mokuhankan.com
instagram.com/mokuhankan
patreon.com/mokuhankan
A series of links to all the images featured in this video is being prepared, and should be in place here by tomorrow ...
Table of Contents:
0:00 Introduction
0:34 The Main Presentation
21:03 Tracing
25:00 Carving
30:30 Sizing
31:30 Printing
- 'Hokusai Reborn', a project in collaboration with the British Museum, to create woodblock prints from Hokusai sketches in their collection.
- 'A Kyoto Journey', a set of 12 prints being created from designs by our long-time collaborator Jed Henry.
***
Mentioned in the video:
The Hokusai Reborn series: mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/reborn.html
The Kyoto Journey series:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/kyoto_journey.html
The Embrace the Delight series:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/delight.html
The video by our co-worker Taran Casey, showing his work on our reproduction of the Hiroshi Yoshida design 'Misty Day in Nikko':
youtube.com/watch?v=hodyh2fWXsA
***
Our online catalogue, where all the other prints mentioned can be found: mokuhankan.com/catalogue/thumbnails.php
Our Twitch stream: twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon page: patreon.com/mokuhankan
Instagram: instagram.com/mokuhankan
Thank you for watching!
0:01 Introduction
3:50 Hokusai Reborn
10:55 A Kyoto Journey
14:22 Year-end financial update
19:52 Questions from viewers
(A note on the audio issue that is bothering many people: I _did_ carefully produce the audio track, recording it separately, then editing it to remove unwanted noise, etc, and properly getting it compressed and normalized. But at the time of exporting the project, I neglected to mute the original camera audio, and this is what caused the echoed/reverby effect. YouTube doesn't let us edit the audio for uploaded videos, so there isn't anything I can do at this point ... Thank you for your patience with me!)
References:
The Mokuhankan workshop:
mokuhankan.com/index.html
The page of information on the series:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/reborn.html
A page on the British Museum site discussing the images:
britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hokusai-great-picture-book-everything/rediscovery-hokusai-drawings-everything
For people who need a 'carving fix' right _now_, you can always see plenty of such work over on our Twitch channel, both 'live' and 'replay':
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Information on the festival scenes:
e-asakusa.jp/en/culture-experience/8881
Bonus content includes a trip to his Ome home/workshop, glimpses of the Ninja who work/play across the street from the Asakusa shop, a (rare) segment on inlaying boxwood into a cherry block, and a selection of clips from recent live streams.
Update: the prints are now finished, and can be seen on their subscription page: mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/delight.html
Links:
mokuhankan.com
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
instagram.com/mokuhankan
patreon.com/mokuhankan
The print series featured in the video:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/delight.html
[The video is being uploaded in two versions: this one with no narration during the workshop scenes, and another (visually identical) version that includes Dave's narration explaining many aspects of what you are seeing during the work.]
No narration (this video):
youtube.com/watch?v=6KZFq5-XNoM
With narration:
youtube.com/watch?v=gkmWsaVeWnM
Links:
mokuhankan.com
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
instagram.com/mokuhankan
patreon.com/mokuhankan
The print series featured in the video:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/delight.html
We currently have a waiting list for this print series. If you want to be notified when we open it for the next round, please use the contact form on our website to let us know:
mokuhankan.com/contact/contact.php
Table of Contents:
0:00 Introduction
5:57 Dave's printing session
34:50 Suga-san's printing session
50:07 The finished print
51:02 Interview with Suga-san
[The video is being uploaded in two versions: this one with Dave's narration explaining many aspects of what you are seeing during the work, and another (visually identical) version that has just the natural background workshop sounds.]
No narration:
youtube.com/watch?v=6KZFq5-XNoM
With narration (this video):
youtube.com/watch?v=gkmWsaVeWnM
Links:
mokuhankan.com
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
instagram.com/mokuhankan
patreon.com/mokuhankan
The print series featured in the video:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/delight.html
We currently have a waiting list for this print series. If you want to be notified when we open it for the next round, please use the contact form on our website to let us know:
mokuhankan.com/contact/contact.php
Table of Contents:
0:00 Introduction
5:57 Dave's printing session
34:50 Suga-san's printing session
50:07 The finished print
51:02 Interview with Suga-san
Mentioned in the video:
The 2022 subscription series: mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/delight.html
The previous series - Scenes of Nature
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/koryusai.html
Our online catalogue, where all the other prints mentioned can be found: mokuhankan.com/catalogue/thumbnails.php
Our Twitch stream: twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon page: patreon.com/mokuhankan
Instagram: instagram.com/mokuhankan
Thank you for watching!
0:05 Introduction
7:40 Scenes of Nature
10:20 Embrace the Delight
17:54 What _didn’t_ get done!
29:00 Opening a special package
This one deals with an issue upper-most in the mind of many of the fans and collectors - what is the condition of the set of woodblocks? After seven years in production, can more good prints really be made from them?
***
[ We're already getting requests ... I should have foreseen this ... but no, I'm sorry; the reject prints mentioned in the video are not for sale.]
***
The closeup print comparison images referred to in the video can be found in this directory of the Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com/hokusai/images/2021_comparison
Information on the Mokuhankan edition of the Great Wave:
mokuhankan.com/hokusai
Our Twitch stream:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon page:
https://www.patreon/mokuhankan/
Our webshop:
mokuhankan.com/catalogue/thumbnails.php
Today, Natsuki Suga gives us a tour of her printing bench and surrounding workspace. Watch to learn a bit more about each tool she uses in her daily work as a printmaker. We hope you will enjoy this overview and learn something along the way, as well.
We have a list of ideas and have started the process of making more of these - but please feel free to leave a comment about what techniques and tools you are interested in learning about so we can consider your ideas for future videos.
Printmaker and Host: Natsuki Suga
Video and Photos: Cameron Hilker
Hasegawa Typeface: Markku Mujunen (mokuhankan.com/fonts and http://markkumujunen.com)
To see Suga-san actually _using_ this space, watch this video:
youtube.com/watch?v=M8ma5q9-lA0
The Mokuhankan Twitch channel (where you can watch Dave use many of the tools shown here):
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon campaign:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
As a kind of 'bonus', the entire video was recorded using binaural microphones embedded in Dave's ears - you hear _exactly_ what he heard, at every step of the way. (Use headphones!) The recording of each segment was done starting around 3:00 am, when Asakusa is as quiet as possible, but even then, there are residual sounds interrupting along the way (the occasional truck passing by, some rainfall for a few of the impressions, and unavoidably a large air conditioner on a building a few blocks away …)
The print used for this demonstration is ‘The Demon King’, which was designed for us by Jed Henry, creator of the famous Ukiyo-e Heroes prints. It is available as part of our 'Portraits Set #1’ subscription series; information here: mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/portraits.html
[Note: there is no narration included in this video, in an attempt to bring you into the undisturbed 'world' of a printer's work. If there is enough interest, we could perhaps upload a second 'cut' of this video, with Dave explaining things along the way ...]
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com/index.html
Jed Henry’s Ukiyo-e Heroes:
ukiyoeheroes.com
Our Twitch stream (live three times a week):
twitch.com/japaneseprintmaking
The Mokuhankan Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Today's video is about the pigment brushes our printers use, known as 'hakobi' (運び) or 'tokibo' (解き棒). First Suga-san tells us a little bit about what hakobi are for and why she makes her own instead of only using store-bought ones, and then she demonstrates the whole process from start to finish. Finally, we have a slideshow at the end going over the tying steps again for you to follow while making your own.
We have a list of ideas and have started the process of making more of these - but please feel free to leave a comment about what techniques and tools you are interested in learning about so we can consider your ideas for future videos.
Narration and demonstrations: Natsuki Suga
Cinematography: Yasuhiro Aoyama and Cameron Hilker
Editing and Subtitling: Cameron Hilker
Hasegawa Typeface: Markku Mujunen (mokuhankan.com/fonts and http://markkumujunen.com)
On Dave's personal website, there is more information on making these tools:
http://woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/001_13/001_13.html
http://woodblock.com/manga/hakobi/index.html
The Mokuhankan Twitch channel (where you can watch Dave use the tools shown here):
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon campaign:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Carver: Noriko Kawasaki
Printer: Natsuki Suga
Cinematography: Yasuhiro Aoyama
Editing and Narration: Cameron Hilker
Guest Appearances: David Bull and Ayumi Ohashi
Subscription information:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions
The Mokuhankan Twitch channel:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon campaign:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
00:00 Introduction and opening
04:12 0/11 - Moistening the Paper
05:51 1/11 - Key block
07:37 2/11 - Yellow on Falcon
09:32 3/11 - Gold Ornamentation
10:25 Adjusting the Kento Registration Marks
11:34 4/11 - Vermilion
12:45 5/11 - Blue Background
14:38 6/11 - Yellow Feet
15:57 7/11 - Pink Flag
17:24 8/11 - Pink Circles
18:30 9/11 - Blue Rope
20:08 10/11 - Blue on Wings
21:35 'Pearl' Pigment
22:22 11/11 - 'Pearl' Insignia
23:38 12/11 - Name Embossing
24:53 Drying the Prints
27:02 Slideshow
28:24 Chat with Suga-san
Note: although the series is being produced one by one during the course of 2021, we intend to keep the set of prints in production for many years, so if you are coming to this page at some future date, it should still be available!
***
Dave's woodblock print publishing venture - Mokuhankan - in Asakusa Tokyo:
mokuhankan.com
Dave does a Twitch stream a few days a week, with the camera pointed at his workbench:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Dave's old and ramshackle personal website, dating back to 1997 ...
http://woodblock.com/front.html
0:00 Introduction: Cultural Differences
9:48 Part One: Life in the Universe
28:21 Part Two: Life… For You and Me
***
The Mokuhankan Collection:
mokuhankan.com/collection
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch stream:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Instagram:
instagram.com/mokuhankan
Thank you for watching!
***
Links relevant to this video:
The 'future Mokuhankan' story that Dave talked about in the video can be downloaded in .pdf form.
1) in single page layout, for easy reading on a tablet, etc.
mokuhankan.com/downloads/Mokuhankan_20xx.pdf
2) in two-page spreads, for printing out as he did for the video:
mokuhankan.com/downloads/Mokuhankan_20xx_spreads.pdf
All the prints in the Collection have 'direct links', so that the images can easily be shared when you want to show somebody an interesting item you have found. Here are links to the prints introduced in the video (in order of appearance):
The woman and horse:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00017-051
Akashi-ban prints:
Pheasants:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00036-003
Fugu:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00036-004
Insect & fruit:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00036-002
Urashisma Taro:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00036-011
Mt. Fuji among clouds:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00036-009
Crow on shrine Gate:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00036-001
Kuchi-e prints:
Girl and Cricket:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00038-035
Beauty with poem card:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00038-029
Woman in Moonlight:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00038-027
Scent of Chrysanthemums:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00038-009
Books:
Matsuyama Mirror:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00090-010
Momotaro (French):
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00090-001
Favourite Flowers:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00086
Colour printing process:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00085
(the finished print):
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00006-017
Taisho-era subscription prints:
Kaigetsudo beauty:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00024-001
Pleasure Quarter:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00024-006
Ebisu/Daikoku parody dancers: mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00024-007
Heron Maiden:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00024-032
Mt. Fuji through a window:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00024-014
Tokaido senshafuda set:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00112
The wild boar:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00159-005
47 Ronin (matchlabels):
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00095
Nature scenes (matchlabels):
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00219
Summer beauties (matchlabels):
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00104
Yokai (matchlabels):
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00216
Koi pond:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00081-006
Kabuki 18:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00032-010
The Giant Stride:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00020-002
***
0:00 Introduction
7:22 Surimono in the Collection
9:55 Kuchi-e in the Collection
11:39 What do we have?
15:39 Books in the Collection
21:06 The photos are important!
25:07 More ukiyo-e in the Collection
28:37 How to look at the Collection
41:53 Wrap-up and an Announcement
Mentioned in the video:
The 2021 subscription series: mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/koryusai.html
The 'Eight Views of Cats' website: nekohakkei.com
Order here: mokuhankan.com/catalogue/thumbnails.php?search_key=8%20Cats
The 'Sushi Cats' can be ordered here: shop.ukiyoeheroes.com/collections/handmade-woodblock-prints
The Instagram of the young British carver mentioned at the end of the video: instagram.com/tarancasey
Our Twitch stream: twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon page: patreon.com/mokuhankan
Instagram: instagram.com/mokuhankan
The print shown on the Splash Screen: mokuhankan.com/catalogue/0394.php
Thank you for watching!
0:00 Introduction
1:13 How We Survived
7:45 Shipping Setbacks
9:13 2019 vs 2020
10:39 Reviewing 2020's Subscription Series
15:50 2021's New Series
18:47 New Tool Project Announcement
21:54 Eight Views of Cats Update
25:27 'It has been an absolutely incredible year...'
youtube.com/watch?v=GKoxt9Y2oMQ
This episode features a set of very small prints made in the Meiji era.
***
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
The Mokuhankan Collection link to see the print set featured in this video is:
mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00089
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
0:00 Introduction and Overview
7:42 First Station - Shinagawa
8:24 Second Station - Kawasaki
8:54 Tenth Station - Hakone
9:49 Sixteenth Station - Yui
10:30 Seventeenth Station - Okitsu
10:51 Nineteenth Station - Fuchū
11:28 Twenty-third Station - Shimada
12:07 Thirty-fifth Station - Goyu
12:59 Forty-first Station - Miya
13:43 Arrival at Kyoto
14:24 Discussion
***
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
00:00 Introduction
01:36 The Talk
11:33 The Prints
Notes about the 14 prints featured in the video (in order of appearance):
1) Lovers in an Autumn Field
Designed: Hishikawa Moronobu, approx 1680s
This print: 20th century reproduction by Adachi
2) Kaigetsudo genre print
Designed: unknown, 'in the style of' the original Kaigetsudo images
This print: Taisho era version (approx 1910~)
3) Shin bijin awase jihitsu kagami (A New Mirror Comparing the Calligraphy of Beauties)
Designed: Kitao Masanobu, 1784
metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45278
This print: Taisho era version (1916)
4) Ohisa of the Takashima-ya
Designed: Kitagawa Utamaro, 1792
artsandculture.google.com/asset/kitagawa-utamaro-ohisa-of-the-takashima-tea-shop-a-colour-woodblock-print/pwGpuPRCj2skhg
This print: Showa era reproduction (mid 1980s)
5) Jidai Kagami (Mirror of the Ages) - Kouka era
Designed: Toyohara Chikanobu, 1896
ukiyo-e.org/image/metro/KA4704-037
This print: original from 1896
6) Ichikawa Danjuro
Designed: Kiyonobu, early 1700s
This print: Dave's reproduction (in the Mokuhankan catalogue)
7) Otani Hiroji III as Kawazu no Saburo (left), and Nakamura Sukegoro II as Matano no Goro (right), in the Play Myoto-giku Izu no Kisewata
Designed: Katsukawa Shunsho, 1770
This print: early 20th century reproduction by Takamizawa
8) Bando Mitsugorô II as Ishii Genzô
Sharaku: 1794
This print: Taisho era version (1915 or so ...)
9) Sagi Musume (Heron Maiden)
Designed: Suzuki Harunobu, 1760
http://enmokudb.kabuki.ne.jp/repertoire_en/鷺娘-the-heron-maiden
This print: Taisho era version (approx 1910~)
10) Wrestlers Contemplating the Child Wonder Daidozan Bungoro (leftmost panel of three)
Designed: Sharaku 1794
This print: early 20th century reproduction by Takamizawa
11) Nihonbashi, from the '53 Stations of the Tokaido'
Designed: Hiroshige, 1834~5
This print: Taisho reproduction set
12) Hara, from the '53 Stations of the Tokaido'
Designed: Hiroshige, 1834~5
This print: Taisho reproduction set
13) Akasaka, from the '53 Stations of the Tokaido'
Designed: Hiroshige, 1834~5
This print: Taisho reproduction set
14) Kanbara, from the '53 Stations of the Tokaido'
Designed: Hiroshige, 1834~5
This print: Taisho reproduction set
A text version of this talk is linked from here:
http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/topics/toc_general_aspects.html
***
Our website:
mokuhankan.com
The shop:
mokuhankan.com/catalogue/thumbnails.php?search_key=general
Twitch stream:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Subscriptions:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions
If you haven't seen the original 'Remembering a Carver' video, it is here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ij9KXgiyDAc
Links
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Dave's Twitch stream:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Mokuhankan print subscriptions:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions
***
The web page discussing tying with string that was mentioned in the video:
http://woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/001_13/001_13.html
***
Comments on Dave's visit to Ito-san from the producer of the original TV program back in 1992, Ms. Reiko Furuichi
"I visited the carver Susumu Ito with David in 1992. Mr. Matsuzaki the printer had arranged the visit for us. (David has already written about this visit in this newsletter, but we TV people have another side to the story!)
Mr. Ito was an elderly 'shokunin' with sullen looks. I didn't even know how to talk to him, but began the interview with my heart in my mouth. It was a strange scene that David and Mr. Ito made, sitting side by side. Their body sizes were completely different and we were not able to shoot the scene in the usual way (Mr. Ito was small and worked with his body hunched over). David felt small sitting beside the 'master', but when we looked at them through the camera lens, it seemed just the reverse; it looked like as though David was bullying Mr. Ito.
So it was quite a difficult situation for our crew. The cameraman was struggling to take pictures of them as they sat on the tatami with tools scattered here and there. He had to work very unnaturally, shooting between their heads and shoulders, and he looked at me quite reproachfully. And what was worse, was that David's ability to listen to Japanese language was far from perfect at that time, and the way Mr. Ito spoke was not easy to understand even for us Japanese. Would this interview work out? We were quite concerned ...
And what happened? Well, Mr. Ito didn't care about the camera at all and eagerly started to tell a lot of things to David. We felt his extraordinary desire to pass on his knowledge to David. Two people have the subject in common. One is eager to tell what he knows, and the other is eager to learn it. It seems that nothing can disturb them. As time went by, the things that Mr. Ito said to David became more and more specific, and at last he was teaching David the 'secrets of carving' with 90% gestures and 10% Japanese that consisted of just isolated words. It seemed as though he was trying to teach David everything he knew in this few hours. It would take a few years to teach them at school. David listened to him with all his heart and mind and strength. Gradually Mr. Ito became to look big for us, too.
One knife came to David's hand and then back to Mr. Ito's hand. This was repeated again and again. It was a happy encounter beyond every difference - age, language, or nationality. Mr. Kenichiro Nakaba, the cameraman, kept taking shots of their hands as much as he could.
After we returned to our office, we talked about how beautiful the hands of the two men were. Why did Mr. Ito try to teach his techniques to David so eagerly? What was David trying to do? Do we really understand Japanese woodblock prints? What is happening in the traditional culture of Japan? ..."
***
0:00 Introduction
5:24 Going to Ito-san's Home
6:07 Ita Bokashi (Carved Gradations)
7:35 Sharpening
12:05 Brush Strokes
15:03 Blade Length and Wrapping
17:23 Dave Shares His Work
18:50 Ito-san Carving
25:10 Discussion and Ending
The print is available in our catalogue here:
mokuhankan.com/catalogue/0275.php
Our website:
mokuhankan.com
Our Twitch stream:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon campaign:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
00:00 Introduction
04:29 1/17 - Background (First Impression)
06:12 2/17 - Background (Second Impression)
07:37 3/17 - Key block
08:52 4/17 - Bowl Background
10:15 5/17 - Darker Bowl Background
11:28 6/17 - Bowl Bottom Gradation
12:45 7/17 - Gradation to Darken the Bowl
14:38 8/17 - Reddish Gradation Inside the Bowl
15:57 9/17 - 2nd Reddish Gradation Inside the Bowl
17:26 10/17 - Blue Wave Pattern
18:18 11/17 - Dark Brown Speckling
19:14 12/17 - Dark Brown Crescent
20:07 13/17 - Yellow in Upper Chipped Section
20:38 14/17 - White Wave Patterns
21:27 15/17 - Shadows at Bottom of Bowl
22:32 16/17 - Subtle Scratches on Sides
23:35 17/17 - Inner Darker Background
25:17 Slideshow
27:10 Wrap-up
Mentioned in the video:
The 2020 subscription series: mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/pilgrimage.html
The 'Eight Views of Cats' website is: nekohakkei.com
Our Twitch stream is at: twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon page is: patreon.com/mokuhankan
Thank you for watching!
The project got under way in June 2019, and after three months, a number of interesting designs have been received, and are introduced here.
The project schedule - it was originally intended that submissions would be accepted only through the summer of 2019 - has been extended, and submissions will now be accepted on an open-ended basis until each of the eight themes has been decided. For more details, please see the project website:
nekohakkei.com
Here are links to see more work from the designers featured in this video:
Randall Hall
instagram.com/randyhallht
Deiniol Owan
instagram.com/illustrationsbyfulmar
Vivian Uhlir
http://vivianuhlir.com
Evelyn Szawerski
namakemono-illustration.com
Aafke Ytsma
http://aafkeytsma.nl/artwork03.html
Sherbett Hopkins
instagram.com/rincs.art
Anselmo Coelho
anselmocoelho.com
Jonathan Huff
instagram.com/jonathandoesart_
Other links:
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch stream:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
***
The download page for the Hasegawa font is:
mokuhankan.com/fonts
Many many thanks to Markku Mujunen for the huge amount of work and dedication he brought to this project!
If you are enjoying having this font for use, please take a minute to let him know, through his website:
http://markkumujunen.com
***
The music used in this video was composed by Bzaurie, and is entitled 'The Invisible Library':
bzaurie.bandcamp.com/track/the-invisible-library
Hear more at: bzaurie.bandcamp.com
***
The poetry reading was done in the only place in this building where I could 'escape' from all the noises of this community ... our bathroom. Please excuse the resulting audio 'effects' ...
***
More information:
Fellow book/print collector Marc Kahn has let me know about other 'sightings' of the Hasegawa font used extensively in some of their books.
-----
- "Japanese Pictures of Japanese Life" - This is the same book illustrated on the cover of Frederic Sharf's book about Takejiro Hasegawa.
- "Monthly Changes of Japanese Street-Scenes - Calendar for 1908" - In addition to just being a calendar, each month has some descriptive text.
-----
Thanks, Marc!
***
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
For those who don't understand how this works, please look up the phrase 'Chroma Key' ... If you want to try this at home, you’ll need some woodblock prints (or any other image) with a smooth background, like the ones used in the video. The app Dave used to create the ‘hidden world’ effect was 'Green Screen’, published by 'Do Ink’, from the Apple app store. Many similar apps are available, both for iOS and Android.
Information on the woodblock prints shown in the video is here:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions
The Mokuhankan Twitch channel is here:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
The three video clips used in the backgrounds were taken from these videos:
youtube.com/watch?v=vla-uUw8EwM
youtube.com/watch?v=lXg3e_ZTZoI
youtube.com/watch?v=HKA0lZ4hubg
Thanks for watching!
This image is the August print - Summer Tea Fields - and is being made by our young printer Natsuki Suga.
Subscription information:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions
The Mokuhankan Twitch channel:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Note: although the series is being produced one by one during the course of 2019, we intend to keep the set of prints in production for many years, so if you are coming to this page at some future date, it should still be available!
00:00 Introduction
02:06 1/10 - Background Orange
03:35 2/10 - Keyblock
04:34 3/10 - Sky Blue and Shadows
05:49 4/10 - Green
07:13 5/10 - Shadows
08:26 6/10 - More Shadows
09:29 7/10 - Darker Green
10:48 8/10 - Tree Shadows
11:35 9/10 - Foreground Shadows
12:32 10/10 - Blue Sky Gradation
13:49 11/10 - Embossing
14:11 Slideshow
***
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
The Mokuhankan print workshop in Asakusa, Tokyo is announcing a new print series today, with a difference! We are looking for collaborators to help us come up with an interesting set of designs.
The series of eight new prints will be published beginning in September of 2019, and during the course of the project we will be accepting submissions of potential images from designers around the world.
Information, and the submission page, can be found on the special website set up for the new series:
nekohakkei.com
***
Notes:
1) Audio
It seems that I screwed up the audio quite badly. When I prepared the video I tried to do too many things at the same time (I live streamed the recording session on Twitch), and ended up doing it with the gain switch on my digital recorder at the ‘low’ setting, leaving me with a very bad signal/noise ratio. But even so, I was very surprised to see just how many people have left comments on the audio - I myself hadn't thought that it was _that_ bad. I suspect now, that at age 67, I'm obviously not hearing the same thing that many of the viewers are hearing ... I will take this into account from now on, and will do two things: 1) get some better equipment, and 2) start using another pair of (younger) ears during this editing process ... Thank you for your patience while I work this out!
***
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The YouTube system doesn't let us include here the text of the pamphlet featured in the video, as it is too long. So we have uploaded it to a file here:
mokuhankan.com/temporary/video_supplementary-notes.txt
***
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
Update: we now have a supplementary video to this one, showing more closeups of the Harunobu designs:
youtube.com/watch?v=VDQpAmIEbn4
Some reference links related to this video:
Original Chinese 8 Views:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Views_of_Xiaoxiang
Some of Hiroshige’s many Omi Hakkei series:
http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/hiroshige/Views_Of_Omi/Views_Of_Omi.htm
Information on Harunobu’s Zashiki Kakkei (contains erotic imagery):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zashiki_Hakkei
An interesting page with more examples and information on the concept:
behance.net/gallery/4807191/The-Eight-Views-of-Omi-and-its-Parodies
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
The young printer you see in the video is Natsuki Suga, who has been working here at Mokuhankan for a few years now. Staffer Cameron Hilker spent hours upstairs with her while she worked on this print, and this video is put together from the clips he took during the process. (Cameron also did the editing of the whole thing ...)
The print in this video is now available from Jed's webshop here:
shop.ukiyoeheroes.com/collections/handmade-woodblock-prints/products/two-souls-entwined-woodblock-print
The rest of the famous Ukiyo-e Heroes prints can be seen here:
mokuhankan.com/heroes
***
We stream our printmaking activities live from our Tokyo workshop three days a week over on Twitch:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
... and we have a Patreon page at:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Thanks for watching!
00:00 Introduction
02:32 1/13 - Key Block
04:06 2/13 - Blue Dragon Key Block
05:17 3/13 - Skin Tone
06:14 4/13 - Green Accents
07:07 5/13 - Armour Grey
08:10 6/13 - Metal Grey
09:09 7/13 - Dark Blue Clothing
10:39 8/13 - Black Clothing
12:46 9/13 - Background Teal
14:37 10/13 - Green for Dragon
15:46 Suga-san talks about her blue pigments
16:00 11/13 - Blue for Dragons
17:19 12/13 - Teal Accent on Waves
18:28 13/13 - Tattoo
19:17 14/13 - Name Embossing
20:06 15/13 - Shomenzuri on Fabric
20:54 Slideshow
21:29 Wrap-up
The Mokuhankan website is:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
Subscription information:
mokuhankan.com/subscriptions
The Twitch channel:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
The Mokuhankan website:
mokuhankan.com
Note: although the series is now being introduced here at the end of 2018, we intend to keep it in production for many years, so if you are coming to this page at some future date, it will still be available!
In a new twist for our videos, this one was produced in its entirety by Mokuhankan staff member Cameron Hilker. Look out for more coming soon!
The famous Ukiyo-e Heroes prints can be seen here:
mokuhankan.com/heroes
They can be ordered online at:
ukiyoeheroes.com
The print in this video can be ordered here:
shop.ukiyoeheroes.com/collections/handmade-woodblock-prints/products/times-burned-bright-woodblock-print
We stream our printmaking activities six days a week over on Twitch:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
... and there is a Patreon page at:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Thanks for watching!
Dave's personal website (kind of old-fashioned) is at:
http://woodblock.com/front.html
His newer work with the Mokuhankan venture is at:
mokuhankan.com
The famous Ukiyo-e Heroes prints can be seen here:
mokuhankan.com/heroes
Dave streams many days each week over on Twitch:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
... and there is a Patreon page at:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Thanks for watching!
The images of the prints contained in this video are copyright Mr. Yoshio Okada. (People have been asking about how to obtain the book that I show in this video. The book has no ISBN, so I can't give you a definitive link, but the title in Japanese is 絵草紙 源氏物語 (E-zoshi Genji Monogatari), and it was written by Tanabe Seiko and illustrated by Okada Yoshio. Published by Kadokawa Shoten in 1979.
[Update: the four prints are now available to view in the Mokuhankan Collection here: mokuhankan.com/collection/index.php?id_for_display=00070]
Dave's personal website (kind of old-fashioned) is at:
http://woodblock.com/front.html
His newer work with the Mokuhankan venture is at:
mokuhankan.com
The famous Ukiyo-e Heroes prints can be seen here:
mokuhankan.com/heroes
Dave streams many days each week over on Twitch:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
... and there is a Patreon page at:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Thanks for watching!
Print Party information:
mokuhankan.com/parties
Our Twitch channel:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Our Patreon page:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our website is:
mokuhankan.com
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
Shortly after this trial printing was completed, Kubota-san began work on the initial batch of production prints, which were sent over to Jed a couple of weeks later. The print is now in regular production, and can be found in the catalogue at:
shop.ukiyoeheroes.com/collections/handmade-woodblock-prints/products/the-serpent-strikes-woodblock-print
Each of the books contains ten actual woodblock prints - the first ten designs created in the series (from 2012 ~ 2014), and is bound in the traditional Japanese 和綴じ本 style (sewn with silk thread).
The (closed) Kickstarter campaign is here:
kickstarter.com/projects/1499165518/ukiyo-e-heroes-boss-fights/description
Ukiyo-e Heroes information is here:
http://mokuhankan.com/heroes
http://ukiyoeheroes.com
The Mokuhankan Twitch channel is here:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Mokuhankan Patreon page is here:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
It was recorded on January 8, 2018 in his Asakusa workshop, and illustrates the production of a design by Ichijô Narumi (1877~1910).
This is the edited version of the session (about 42 minutes long), and the video is also available here on YouTube in a full-length version of the entire stream (about 3 hours 20 minutes long):
youtube.com/watch?v=0nCbsbaVbVM
The print is available here:
http://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/0335.php
Dave's Twitch stream is here:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Patreon page is here:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
It was recorded on January 8, 2018 in his Asakusa workshop, and illustrates the production of a design by Ichijô Narumi (1877~1910).
The video is also available here on YouTube in an edited version (about 42 minutes long):
youtube.com/watch?v=ucdcFCxkvTI
The print is now available here:
http://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/0335.php
Dave's Twitch stream is here:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Patreon page is here:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
0:00 Getting Started
2:55 Pasting the First Hanshita Down
7:40 Peeling the Gampi Paper
11:33 Sharpening the Knife
18:07 Carving Ripple Outlines
1:06:10 Clearing Ripples
1:13:02 Carving the Woman
1:33:40 Carving the Border
1:37:12 Clearing the Border
1:49:15 Clearing the Woman
1:57:30 Finishing Touches on First Block
2:13:40 Pasting the Hair Hanshita Down
2:15:52 Peeling Gampi Again
2:17:26 Carving the Hair
2:30:55 Clearing around the Hair
2:36:10 Final Touches around Hair
2:41:52 Carving is Done - Printing Prep!
2:50:23 Test Printing of First Block
2:57:05 First Block Washi Printing
3:08:37 Hair Block Test Printing
3:10:57 Hair Block Washi Printing
3:18:39 Final Print and Wrap-up
Each of the books will contain ten actual woodblock prints - the first ten designs created in the series (from 2012 ~ 2014), and will be bound in the traditional Japanese 和綴じ本 style (sewn with silk thread).
The (closed) Kickstarter campaign was here:
kickstarter.com/projects/1499165518/ukiyo-e-heroes-boss-fights/description
Ukiyo-e Heroes information is here:
http://mokuhankan.com/heroes
http://ukiyoeheroes.com
The Mokuhankan Twitch channel is here:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Mokuhankan Patreon page is here:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Subscription information:
http://mokuhankan.com/legendary_loot
The Twitch channel:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
The Patreon:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
The Mokuhankan website:
http://mokuhankan.com
Note: although the series is now being introduced here at the end of 2017, we intend to keep it in production for many years, so if you are coming to this page at some future date, it should still be available!
This episode focusses on the question of how much these woodblock wear down after heavy use ...
Information on the print is at:
http://mokuhankan.com/hokusai
It can be ordered here:
http://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/0293.php
Dave's Patreon page is at:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Dave's Twitch account - where live streams happen most day each week, is at:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!
More information on the prints is here:
http://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/DH07.php
http://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/DH04.php
Our Patreon page is:
patreon.com/mokuhankan
Our Twitch channel is:
twitch.tv/japaneseprintmaking
Thank you for watching!