Takenaka Kenji
1970–
Five generations, one workshop, still standing.
Takenaka is the fifth-generation master printer of Takenaka Mokuhan, a
Kyoto studio founded in 1891, trained from childhood by his predecessor in the craft of suri — the final, decisive stage of
hand-printing where the block meets the paper. He later founded Takezasadō to keep the tradition alive for a new
century, teaching workshops across Japan, the United States, and Europe. His prints are held by the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, and the Musée Guimet in Paris — proof that a centuries-old technique still has something new to say.
