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Bijin
Kotondo Torii 1900-1976
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Collectors of Japanese woodblock prints are used to a great number of specific terms and expressions taken from the Japanese language. It begins with the word ukiyoe, used as a synonym for Japanese woodblock prints, which is certainly not part of everyday's English.

This can be a bit confusing and scary for a newbie. With the ukiyoe terms it is like for any foreign language. With a knowledge of 10 percent you cover 90 percent of your needs. Here is a glossary of fifteen top ukiyoe glossary terms.

Bijin

Bijin is the Japanese word for beautiful woman, a popular genre in ukiyoe Japanese woodblock prints. The Bijin depicted on ukiyoe prints were usually prostitutes.

Blind Printing

Blind printing is a method where a raised design is impressed into the paper. The effect is achieved by laying the wetted paper on the block face upwards and applying pressure on the print. And as the block was not inked for this procedure it is called blind printing. Other words for blind printing are embossing or gauffrage.

Daimyo

Procession of a Daimyo
Hiroshige II Utagawa 1829-1869
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Daimyo is the name for a feudal lord in the Edo period (1603-1868) comparable to a Duke in the Western society. The daimyo had great powers until the end of the Edo period. In 1871 their land possessions were confiscated by law and the daimyo received a state pension. Sic tempora mutant ! - how times had changed!

Diptych and Triptych

This is simply a print consisting of two panels (diptych) and of three panels (triptych). Although the design went over the two combined panels, each single panel in Japanese woodblock printmaking was of an artistic design that could stand "for itself". It is therefore difficult even for an expert to recognize if a single sheet print was originally part of a diptych or a triptych.

Edo

Map of Edo
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Edo is the old name for Tokyo. And as the Japanese history periods were named after the capital in which the rulers had established themselves, it is also the name for a period in Japanese history lasting from 1615 to 1868. During the Edo period, Japan was ruled by the Shogun. It was a period of peace in Japan but also of social oppression and a complete isolation from the outside world.

Ga

Can often be found at the end of a signature like "Hiroshige ga". It means "drawn by" or "painted by".

Genji Monogatari

Prince Genji and Lover
by Masao Ebina
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Genji Monogatari is the Japanese title for The Tale of Genji, a novel written in the beginning of the eleventh century by a female writer, Lady Murasaki Shikibu (978 -1016). Genji Monogatari is considered to be the oldest novel in world literature. It chronicled the amorous adventures of Prince Genji, a Japanese nobleman.

Green Houses

Inside a Brothel
Yoshitoshi Taiso 1839-1892
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This is not a tea house where green tea is served but just another word for a Japanese brothel. Another name is seiro. The Japanese were great masters in creating synonyms for sexual-related terms. The brothels in the Edo period were restricted to a certain area, called the pleasure quarters or licensed districts. The most famous pleasure quarter was Yoshiwara in Tokyo.

Hanga

Hanga means print or printed picture.

Hitsu

Hitsu means written by or drawn by and can often be found at the end of a signature as in Chikanobu hitsu. Ga has a similar meaning as in Hiroshige ga.

Kabuki

Kabuki-za Theater
Tomikichiro Tokuriki 1902-1999
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Kabuki is a popular form of Japanese theater. The intellectual Japanese elite considered Kabuki as something inferior - for the common people. The "upper-class" form of theater is called Noh Theater. Noblemen and members of higher ranks were even not allowed to go to kabuki plays. But kabuki was so popular that they did it nevertheless.

Oban Tate-e

Ukiyoe prints follow certain standard sizes and this is the most common one with approximately 10 x 15 inches/ 25.4 x 38 cm. Tate-e is the word for a print in horizontal/portrait format. Yoko-e stands for an ukiyoe print in landscape format.

Oiran

Oiran Dochu
Procession of Prostitutes
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Oiran is the name of a high-ranking Japanese prostitute.

Osaka Prints

Osaka prints are woodblock prints made by the Painting and Printmaking School of Osaka. The school was specialized in prints of kabuki actors and kabuki scenes.

Ronin

The 47 Ronin
Kogai Tashiro fl.ca. 1900-1910s
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Ronin were samurai without a master. This could happen if their master was for instance killed by the enemy. Ronin were a great social problem in old Japan.

The term has become very well known all over the world by the story of the 47 ronin. The 47 ronin had lost their master who had been forced to commit unjustified suicide. These masterless samurai from then on knew only one goal: to revenge their master and thus restore his "honor". At the end they decapitate the bad guy in a famous night raid on his masion. But the auithorities arrest the ronin and sentence them to the death penalty. They are generously allowed to commit suicide.

The story of the 47 ronin is based on real events from the end of the 16th century. The Japanese see it as an epitaph of of the highest Japanese virtue - total loayalty towards one's master. Westerners will probably see it as a confusing soap opera about more than odd Japanese thinking and behavior.

Shunga Prints

Shunga Print
by Utamaro Kitagawa 1750-1806
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A name for erotic prints with usually very explicit designs. Shunga means literally spring picture. Shunga prints were more or less not allowed during the Edo period. Nearly all famous ukiyoe artists however designed shunga pictures - either as book illustrations or seldom as single sheets. Because of the imminent threat of censorship shunga prints usually do not have any signatures.

Surimono

Surimono
by Hokkei Totoya 1780-1850
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Surimono are privately issued Japanese prints for certain occasions like for instance as New Year's greeting for friends.

Washi

Washi is the name for all kinds of handmade Japanese paper. The fibre is made from mulberry and it is considered to be superior to Western papers which are made of linen (Arches) or wood-pulp (laid paper).

If you want to learn a few more ukiyoe terms, then use our Art Glossary database.

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