Ukiyo-E Woodblock Prints are born
Although the technique of printing from wood blocks had been known in Japan for many centuries, and although Chinese printed books were quite common, the first Japanese illustrated book printed from wood blocks did not appear until around 1650. The book was the Ise Monogatari, which is a traditional tale. The illustrations in such early printed books were crude and subordinate to the text. Very soon, however, the pictures became more important and provided the masses with an affordable form of art. Even those who were illiterate bought the books for the sake of the pictures.
Around 1660 there were many illustrators working under contract for publishers in Japan's most important city, Edo (present-day Tokyo). One of them, Hishikawa Moronobu, persuaded his publisher to issue illustrations as single sheets and without texts. These sold very well and from then on, woodblock prints as well as illustrated books were widely available to the public. He not only signed each print in the woodblock, but his signature announced to the world that he took himself seriously as an artist. It was Yamato esho - master of Japanese painting.
By the sixteenth century, a troupe of entertainers, led by a woman, became
popular in Kyoto. It specialized in dances performed by men masquerading as
women, and women as men. Many such troupes soon emerged, some of which consisted
only of women who were less interested in dancing than offering their sexual
services for sale. The authorities soon prohibited them. The girls were then
replaced by boys who, in turn, were also banned for the same reason. Finally,
adult males took over, and they began to liven up the performances by acting out
some of the popular stories of the day. The result was the form of the Kubuki
theatre that has endured, with very little modification, until today.
In contemporary slang, Kabuku meant 'fashionable', and it is thought that the name Kabuki developed from it. The theatre was not only fashionable, it was also very popular, partly because it was the only outside entertainment to which respectable women might go. Not only the leisured wives and daughters of the merchants flocked to the theatre but also, on the few free days, the ladies of the court went also. Some of these women were fortunate, or forward enough to have actors as lovers, but most of them had to be content with portrait-prints of their favorites. Publishers were aware of this demand and commissioned artists to depict every aspect of life of the actor and the Kabuki theatre. They showed actors relaxing backstage, holding a dramatic pose, or simply out taking a walk. They also produced single and group portraits. The theater provided the print-makers with an inexhaustible supply of subjects, and the prints boosted the popularity of the actors and of particular plays.
There were, of course, as many male enthusiasts of the Kabuki as there were female devotees. For the men, however, there was a more important place of entertainment - the brothel. The craftsmen and merchants possessed enough money and time to allow them to live large parts of their lives with courtesans and prostitutes. A large industry grew up to meet their needs. By 1627, all the whores and brothels in Edo had been concentrated in one place, called the Yoshiwara, and were licensed for prostitution. After a disastrous fire in 1657, which virtually destroyed Edo and caused the city to be replanned and rebuilt, another district was specially cleared for prostitution and called the New Yoshiwara, which continued in its specialized trade until 1951.
The most accomplished of the courtesans provided the print-makers with many of their subjects. Although prints of explicit sexual activity were popular, the courtesan was as frequently depicted showing off her extravagant kimonos like a fashion model, demonstrating the latest hairstyle and enjoying her allegedly leisured way of life. She was a star, and her portrait, bought by admirers and by those who wished they could afford her, increased the demand for her and the profits of her house.
Once Hishikawa Moronobu had signed his prints and had called himself a master, other artists followed his example and, in true Japanese fashion, master-pupil relationships developed. Schools of printmaking, each with its preferred subjects and characteristic style, emerged. They were known as families because the head pupil often married into his master's family and established a true blood relationship. In the early eighteenth century families such as the Hisikawa (Moronobu's followers) the Torii (who specialized in actor prints) and the Kaigetsudo (masters of the full-lengths of beautiful women) were especially prominent.
The early eighteenth century was a period of development in printmaking. The quality of the paper improved; shapes and sizes of prints became varied; and polytychs were introduced. Techniques of printing became more sophisticated. The urushi-e, or lacquer-print was developed, for example, in which certain areas of black are made to shine by mixing glue with the printing ink.
The greatest innovation in technique, however, was in the use of color. From the earliest times, deluxe editions of prints had been richly colored by hand. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Okumura Masanobu (a publisher as well as an artist) was experimenting with the use of more than one block to produce beni-e, or 'red pictures' which employed up to three colors. These colors were not contained by the contours of the design, however.
The first truly polychromatic print (called nishiki-e, or 'brocade picture' in Japanese) appeared around 1769. An Edo artist, Suzuki Harunobu published a series of prints in which the colors were either enclosed by an outline, or formed hard edges in their own. These prints were an instant success and Harunobu, until his death six years later at the age of 46, was the most popular artist in Edo, producing prints of ethereal, identical-looking young men and women, posing with exquisite grace.
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