Edo Mokuhanga Kitagawa Utamaro, “Five Beauties Competing in Charm”: Tomimoto Itsutomi
The Utamaro portrait anchoring a restrained arrangement with two subtle works on paper.
A woman reading beside the framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print on a wall above a wooden console.
A woman looking at the framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print standing upright on a wooden table.
Tomimoto Itsutomi displayed above a wooden cabinet with a rounded vase against a pale wall.
The framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print displayed on a stone console between stacked books and a dark vase.
Edo Mokuhanga Kitagawa Utamaro, “Five Beauties Competing in Charm”: Tomimoto Itsutomi
The Utamaro portrait anchoring a restrained arrangement with two subtle works on paper.
A woman reading beside the framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print on a wall above a wooden console.
A woman looking at the framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print standing upright on a wooden table.
Tomimoto Itsutomi displayed above a wooden cabinet with a rounded vase against a pale wall.
The framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print displayed on a stone console between stacked books and a dark vase.
Takahashi Kobo Co., Ltd. SKU: BJ_P_00088

Edo Mokuhanga Kitagawa Utamaro, “Five Beauties Competing in Charm”: Tomimoto Itsutomi

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Product Details

PRODUCT DETAILS

Utamaro, returned through the printer’s hand

Kitagawa Utamaro’s portrait of Tomimoto Itsutomi returns through traditional Edo woodblock printing by Takahashi Kobo. A poised profile, finely ordered hairline, patterned robe, and bold round fan emerge in a restrained palette on Echizen kizuki hosho washi. Made with 13 cherry-wood blocks and 16 impressions, the print reveals the layered work behind this quiet image.

USE & APPRECIATION

Living with Utamaro's Tomimoto Itsutomi

Build a conversation among works on paper

Place the portrait among other works on paper to create a personal wall arrangement. Its bold round fan and sweeping dark hair offer a clear center, while the restrained palette leaves room for quieter neighboring images.

The Utamaro portrait anchoring a restrained arrangement with two subtle works on paper.

A portrait beside the reading chair

Look up from a book and let the portrait draw your attention for a moment. The round fan, patterned robe, and finely drawn profile offer a sequence of details to explore, adding interest to a familiar reading corner.

A woman reading beside the framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print on a wall above a wooden console.

Follow the fan and finely drawn profile

Bring the framed image close to follow the hairline and pattern around the fan. The precision of the hand-printed layers becomes part of the pleasure, giving you more to discover than the portrait's first impression.

A woman looking at the framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print standing upright on a wooden table.

Give the portrait an open wall

Give the portrait an open indoor wall where its silhouette can read clearly. The dark hair and pale face create a strong balance, making a quiet focal point above a cabinet without an elaborate display.

Tomimoto Itsutomi displayed above a wooden cabinet with a rounded vase against a pale wall.

A considered place above pale stone

Set the portrait within a restrained arrangement of pale stone and a few favorite objects. Its circular fan and checked robe introduce pattern at a human scale, encouraging a closer look as you pass.

The framed Tomimoto Itsutomi print displayed on a stone console between stacked books and a dark vase.

OBJECT PASSPORT / CARE & USE

Care & Handling

Care and use graphic showing that washing, heat appliances, cold storage, outdoor use, and ironing are not permitted.

Do not wash, iron, refrigerate, freeze, or use the print outdoors. Do not use it with heat appliances.

OBJECT PASSPORT

Product details

Dimensions
250 × 380 (335 × 480) mm
Material
Washi (Echizen kizuki hosho paper)
Product weight
137 g
Origin
Japan

Traditional hand-printed Edo woodblock print. 13 cherry-wood blocks and 16 impressions on Echizen kizuki hosho washi. The source work is held by the Ota Memorial Museum of Art.
Craft Heritage

CRAFT HERITAGE

Craft Heritage

Edo Mokuhanga developed from early monochrome prints that were colored by hand in styles known as tan-e, beni-e, and urushi-e. Printers later began using separate woodblocks for color, producing two- and three-color beni-zuri-e prints.

By 1765, gold, silver, and intermediate tones could also be printed from woodblocks, establishing the multicolor format. The carving and printing techniques developed during the Edo period have been refined and passed down to the present day.
How It’s Made

TRADITIONAL CRAFT PROCESS

How It’s Made

About the Making Process

Edo Mokuhanga is created through the coordinated work of a carver and a printer.
The carver cuts the design into natural cherry blocks.
The printer aligns handmade washi to the registration marks, applies pigment, and rubs the back of the paper with a baren.
The depth of the carving and the amount of pigment both affect the result, requiring precise adjustments from each specialist.
Multicolor works are built up one block at a time and may require more than 30 impressions.

1. Carving
  • The outlines of the original drawing are transferred to the key block and carved along the ink lines with a small knife. Nonprinting areas are cleared with chisels.
  • Two registration marks, kagi-kento and hikitsuke-kento, are carved into the block to ensure that the paper is positioned consistently.
  • Using a proof from the key block as a guide, the area required for each color is carved with knives or chisels on a separate color block. Cherry is used for the printing blocks.
2. Printing
  • A small, broom-shaped tool called a tokibo transfers pigment to the block, and a brush spreads it evenly. Handmade hosho washi is positioned against the registration marks.
  • A baren is rubbed firmly over the back of the paper, pressing the pigment deep into its fibers.
  • The color blocks are printed in sequence from lighter to darker colors. Some works require more than 30 separate impressions.
  • The printer adjusts the amount of pigment applied to the block in response to changes in temperature and humidity.
Meet the Maker

MEET THE MAKER

Meet the Maker

MAKER · BUNKYO, TOKYO

Color, Registered by Hand

At Takahashi Kobo, Edo woodblock printing is not treated as a historical image separated from its making. It remains a coordinated practice in which an artist's design, a carver's blocks, a printer's hand, and a publisher's direction meet on washi.

Yukiko Takahashi, sixth-generation representative of Takahashi Kobo, seated in the workshop.
Yukiko Takahashi, Sixth Generation

Takahashi Kobo was founded during Japan's Ansei era, between 1855 and 1860. The Takahashi family inherited the work of printers, and from the fourth generation also assumed the role of publisher—the person responsible for planning a work and coordinating the specialists who bring it into being.

Sixth-generation representative Yukiko Takahashi learned printing from her father before taking charge of the workshop. Her work extends from the reproduction of ukiyo-e to collaborations with contemporary artists, designers, architects, and animators. The workshop also develops projects that combine the transmission of technique with the training of younger craftspeople.

Many Hands, One Impression

Edo woodblock printing depends on a division of labor. An artist supplies the image. A carver separates its colors and cuts the required cherry-wood blocks. A printer places pigment on each block and transfers the layers to washi. A publisher directs the sequence and holds the complete work together.

The printer aligns the paper to registration marks called kentō and generally works from lighter areas toward deeper ones. Moisture in the paper, the balance of water, pigment, and paste, the pressure and movement of the baren, and the timing of each impression determine whether the colors meet cleanly and how the surface appears. Woodblock printing techniques include bokashi, which creates gradation through controlled handling of pigment on the block, and karazuri and kimedashi, which create relief in the paper without printed color. Alongside the layering of colors, this craft preserves a range of ways to work with the texture of washi.

A Tradition Made Useful Again

The workshop continues to reproduce historic prints, but it also develops new ways for woodblock culture to be encountered through contemporary images and objects. That activity is not a departure from the tradition's structure. Edo prints were themselves products of collaboration, publishing, and the visual culture of their time. Takahashi Kobo carries that structure forward by asking what should be printed now, who should be involved, and how the craft can remain intelligible to a new audience.
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