Edo Mokuhanga Kisegawa of the Matsubaya
A woman holding the framed Kisegawa of the Matsubaya print upright on a pale stone surface.
Kisegawa of the Matsubaya displayed above a wooden cabinet with a vase, bowl, books, and a small lidded container.
Kisegawa of the Matsubaya displayed beside a reading chair with a purple throw, a lamp, and a vase of purple flowers.
Edo Mokuhanga Kisegawa of the Matsubaya
A woman holding the framed Kisegawa of the Matsubaya print upright on a pale stone surface.
Kisegawa of the Matsubaya displayed above a wooden cabinet with a vase, bowl, books, and a small lidded container.
Kisegawa of the Matsubaya displayed beside a reading chair with a purple throw, a lamp, and a vase of purple flowers.
Takahashi Kobo Co., Ltd. SKU: BJ_P_00090

Edo Mokuhanga Kisegawa of the Matsubaya

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Product Details

PRODUCT DETAILS

A summer gesture, registered by hand

Kitagawa Utamaro's Kisegawa of the Matsubaya House captures a courtesan smiling as she raises one hand and cools herself with a round fan painted with morning glories. Traditionally hand printed on Echizen kizuki hosho washi, this Edo Mokuhanga reproduction rewards both a full view of its poised summer composition and close attention to hairlines, pattern, and layered color.

USE & APPRECIATION

A summer portrait in everyday rooms

Explore the fan and raised hand

Bring the portrait close to explore Kisegawa's raised hand and morning-glory fan. Fine printed lines connect the lively gesture with her smile, offering an intimate view of summer that rewards more than a passing glance.

A woman holding the framed Kisegawa of the Matsubaya print upright on a pale stone surface.

A composed presence above the cabinet

Give the portrait a clear place above a cabinet in a calm indoor setting. Its sweeping hair and round fan form a balanced silhouette, bringing movement and personality to the room through a restrained palette.

Kisegawa of the Matsubaya displayed above a wooden cabinet with a vase, bowl, books, and a small lidded container.

Let the floral fan connect with the room

Echo the fan's floral detail with a small arrangement near your evening chair. Kisegawa's summer gesture adds a lightness of mood, inviting you to enjoy the portrait as part of a room you use every day.

Kisegawa of the Matsubaya displayed beside a reading chair with a purple throw, a lamp, and a vase of purple flowers.

OBJECT PASSPORT / CARE & USE

Care & Handling

Care guide for the Kisegawa woodblock print: display and appreciate the work indoors.

This work is intended for indoor display.

OBJECT PASSPORT

Product details

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

This traditional hand-printed Edo Mokuhanga reproduction is made with 14 blocks and 16 impressions, using cherry blocks and Echizen kizuki hosho paper. The original work is held by the Ota Memorial Museum of Art.

Kisegawa is shown smiling as she fans herself with a morning-glory fan in summer. The rebus combines pine needles, an arrow, the upper part of a pipe, and a river to identify Matsubaya Kisegawa. A paper cord at her left wrist is described as something tied for a wish or charm.

Five Beauties Competing in Charm dates to around 1795–1796. After a 1793 restriction on naming women in prints, Utamaro used rebuses to identify them. This reproduction is based on a work in the Ota Memorial Museum of Art collection.
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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