232 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1892. 



printer in producing the various hues, tints, and shades with printing 

 brushes, in precisely the same way as the water-color painter. This 

 holds good also of the engraver. The arts of engraving and of printing 

 are practiced in Japan according to the dictates of experience, with no, 

 or at the most but very slight, mechanical assistance. 



Cost of designs. The original design of "Yinaka genji," by Kuni- 

 teru, called also Yichiyusai, cost 10 yen (about $7.60). 



That of "Nandina domestica," by Chinzan, Tsubaki, cost the same 

 sum. 



Tost of engraving. " Yinaka genji," engraved by Kokichiro, Mo- 

 rikawa, cost 10 yen (about $12.30), and took the engraver about 20 days. 

 [The three sheets, executed respectively in 25, 2G, and 23 printings, or 

 in all 71 printings, required the cutting of 37 blocks. See the notes by 

 the editor, p. 210, concerning the discrepancy between number of print- 

 ings and number of blocks.] 



"Nandina domestica," engraved by Kotaro, Ivido, cost 8.1 yen (about 

 $6.38), and took about seven days in the doing. [There are 33 print- 

 ings, but the number of blocks used is not stated.] 



Cost of printing. The printer of "Yinaka genji," Tsurusabro, 

 Nakamura, received 70 sen (about 51 cents) per day. He printed 3,000 

 sheets per day from the black block, and 700 to 800 sheets per day Irom 

 the color blocks. 



The printer of " Namibia domestica,'* Yiwakichi, Yamamoto, received 

 one yen (about 76 cents) per day. He finished about 200 sheets per 

 week. 



The people engaged in home industries do not generally take a rest 

 on Sunday. The week, therefore, has seven days of about eight hours 

 each. As "Xandina domestica" lias 33 printings, 200 finished sheets 

 are equal to 6,600 impressions per week, or !>13 per day. The numbers 

 differ, hoAvever, according to the different nature of the blocks. Of the 

 easiest, for instance, such as a uniform green for the leaves, 1,200 to 

 1,800 sheets can be printed in a day, while of the most difficult ones, 

 such as those giving the half-tints in the fruit, only 000 to 700 sheets 

 can be printed. 



NOTES BY THE EDITOR. 



To any one familiar with the history of the technique of relief engrav- 

 ing, the reading of Mr. Tokuno's communication makes it evident that 

 the methods used by the Japanese engravers of to-day, so far as they 

 have not been influenced by European precept, are precisely those used 

 in Europe in the 15th, 10th and 17th centuries. In other words, these 

 artists are not, correctly speaking, wood-engravers, but woodcutters. 

 This is apparent from the material and the tools used by them. 



The material is wood cut in the direction of the fiber, i. e., planks, for 

 which, since Bewick's time, blocks cut across the fiber or grain have been 

 substituted with us. 



