Preparing to Play the Koto 1897

Yōshū Chikanobu made this woodblock print showing women Preparing to Play the Koto, but its date is unknown. Look closely and you'll see that the flat planes of color are actually built up through many layers of printing. This was a highly developed craft tradition in Japan. Each color needed a separate block, carved with absolute precision, and then applied in perfect register. So the image gives an impression of serene domesticity, but belies a complex industrial process. The print would have been made for a middle-class audience, keen to have a taste of high culture at an affordable price. It could even be seen as an early form of social media. Woodblock prints like this allowed people to keep up with the latest fashions and trends. So, next time you see a print, remember that it's not just an image. It’s also the result of many hours of skilled labor, and a reflection of the social and economic forces at play in its time.