JAPANESE WOOD-CUTTING AND WOOD-CUT PRINTING. 



Communicated by T, Toku.no, 



Chief of Insetsu-Kioku (Bureau of Engraving and Printing) of the Ministry of Finance, 



Tokio, Japan. 



Edited and annotated by S. R. Koehler, 



Curator of the Section of Graphic Arts, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



Through the kindness of Mr. T. Tokuuo, Chief of the Bureau of 

 Engraving and Printing of the Ministry of Finance, Tokio, Japan, the 

 U. S. National Museum has received as a gift from the Imperial Gov- 

 ernment of Japan the complete outfit of a Japanese wood-cutting 

 and wood-cut printing establishment, accompanied by illustrated de- 

 scriptions of all the tools and materials sent and of the processes 

 used by Japanese engravers and printers. The original statements 

 made by Mr. Tokuno were supplemented by answers to questions ad- 

 dressed to him by me, and the patience and courtesy shown by this 

 well-informed official can not be too highly appreciated and too warmly 

 acknowledged. The publication of the information thus elicited will 

 be welcomed by those Avho are interested in the art of the wood-cutter 

 and in the arts of Japan, more especially as Mr. Tokuno's communica- 

 tion is, so far as I know, the first authoritative statement on this sub- 

 ject made by a native of Japan thoroughly qualified for the task. As 

 the information which follows is scattered through a number of letters 

 and memoranda, it will not be possible to give it absolutely in the 

 shape in which it was received, but care will be taken to adhere as 

 closely as possible to Mr. Tokuno's own statements. Occasional ob- 

 scurities which still remain must be charged to the necessity of corre- 

 sponding m English and to the great distance between the correspond- 

 ents. The illustrations which accompany this paper, so far as they 

 relate to Japanese wood-cutting and printing, were all made either 

 from the objects themselves or from drawings by Japanese artists fur- 

 nished by Mr. Tokuno. Such remarks as suggest themselves upon a 

 comparison of our own methods, past and present, with those of Japan 

 will be given as an appendix to Mr. Tokuno's communication. 



The tools and specimens alluded to in the following pages have been 

 placed on exhibition in the Hall of Graphic Arts, eastern side, alcove 

 2, in the square case on the floor of the alcove, and in frames 28 to 34. 



22L 



