224 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1892. 



Aim of Japanese woodcutting. The important point to be kept 

 in view in characteristic Japanese woodcutting is to show the direction 

 of the brush in painting, so as not to destroy the features of an original 

 picture or of written characters. The direction in which the knife is 

 moved might be said to be almost identical with the direction of the 

 brush, and wood-cuts by skillful hands therefore show the exact fea- 

 tures of the originals, while, at the same time, they have a special ar- 

 tistic character of their own. 



Manner of handling the engraving tools. The tools, having 

 been put into good order and well sharpened, are laid on one side of 

 the engraving table, and upon the latter is placed the plank to be cut. 

 The wood-cutter, holding his knife in his right hand and pushing the 

 back of it with the middle finger of the left hand, first cuts around all 

 the lines of the design, and then removes the wood between them by 

 means of the chisels, so as to leave the lines in relief. He then, with a 

 small brush, cleans and washes the plank, and has a proof taken, after 

 which he makes corrections, if necessary. 



Plate vi shows a wood-cutter at work. A is the plank ; B, a grinding 

 stone for sharpening the knives and chisels; is a box containing 

 engraver's tools. 



Difference between old and modern Japanese methods of 

 wood-cutting. Although the method of cutting on wood differs 

 slightly at present from the ancient method, the principal points are, 

 nevertheless, the same. 



All ancient wood -cuts are comparatively deeper than those of the 

 j ncsent day. The shallowness of modern cutting is due, probably, to 

 the ability to do much finer work. 



In the ancient style the outer boundaries of letters or pictures were 

 cut away deeply before they were properly engraved. At present the 

 stages are reversed. The latter method takes less labor and time, and 

 it is probably one of the causes of the shallow cutting at present in 

 vogue. 



Formerly the }>aper bearing the original design, after it had been 

 pasted down on the plank, was oiled, so as to make it transparent, 

 and to enable the wood-cutter to see the design quite distinctly. This 

 is not necessary now, as it is easy to get paper sufficiently thin and 

 transparent in itself. 



Semicircular chisels are now in use for removing some of the parts 

 between the lines of the design. There were no such chisels formerly, 



somewhat resembling our ordinary roofing slate, but softer and less finely fis- 

 siled. 



No. 20 is a soft, buff -colored argillaceous rock, more like the German razor bone 

 than anything we use. 



No. 21 is a whitish, somewhat decomposed siliceous rock, rather coarse for a whet- 

 stone, giving, when breathed upon, a distinct clayey odor, indicating the presence of 

 free argillaceous matter. 



