What is Mokuhanga?
An Art Form Shaped by Collaboration and Patience
Mokuhanga is the traditional Japanese art of woodblock printing. Unlike modern mechanical printing, it is a highly collaborative art form, brought to life through the skill and precise coordination of three master craftspeople.
Colors Born from Nature
Mokuhanga uses water-based pigments. Traditionally, these have included a variety of naturally derived pigments such as Sumi ink, deep blue Ai (indigo), vivid red Beni, and
white Gofun made from finely ground oyster shells.
Mixed with rice paste known as Nori and worked into the washi, these pigments penetrate its soft fibers, creating the warmth, depth, and distinctive colors unique to Mokuhanga.
One Print, Created Through Layers of Color
To complete a single print, the Surishi carefully applies and prints multiple layers of color onto the same sheet of washi — for some works, as many as several dozen individual colors. Each impression must be aligned with extraordinary precision. Only through this meticulous process requiring time, patience, and years of refined skill does a single woodblock print finally come to life.
The subtle variations and rich textures created by hand cannot be replicated by mechanical printing. They emerge from the combined skill and experience of the Eshi, Horishi, and Surishi, coming together on a single sheet of washi to create the distinctive beauty of Mokuhanga.
Eshi - The Artist
The Eshi creates the original design that serves as the foundation of the work.
Horishi — The Carver
The Horishi meticulously carves the design into blocks of hard mountain cherry wood — depending on the work, this may require as few as several woodblocks or more than twenty, to capture its many colors and details.
Surishi — The Printer
The Surishi carefully aligns each woodblock with traditional handmade washi paper, applying and printing each color by hand, one layer at a time.
A LIVING TRADITION
The art of mokuhanga ー hand-carving and hand-printing ー has been passed down through generations of Japanese artisans for centuries. At MOK Arts, this same tradition is carried on today by skilled contemporary craftspeople.
This living tradition takes two forms in our collection:
Traditional Reproductions
Historic ukiyo-e and shin-hanga masterpieces, faithfully recreated today using the same hand-carving and hand-printing processes as the original artists.
Original Contemporary Works
New works created by today's artisans, using techniques passed down
unchanged through generations.
In both cases, every print you see is the work of living hands, carrying forward a craft that has never stopped.
The Hands Behind Our Prints
Takahashi Kobo
A Tokyo family of printers since the 1850s, now led by the sixth generation, bringing ukiyo-e into everyday life.
Takezasado
A Kyoto workshop carrying forward the Takenaka family's woodblock tradition since 1891, creating strikingly modern prints with age-old techniques.
Unsodo
Japan's last publisher of hand-printed woodblock books, keeping Edo-period methods alive for more than 130 years.
Takamizawa Mokuhansha
Founded in 1911, recreating not only the form of each masterpiece but the depth of its color and the life in its lines.
