When Ancient Japanese Woodblock Printing met Modern American Hard Rock
The UKIYO-E PROJECT puts a modern spin on a traditional art form
by Mamiko Nakano
What would it look like if a rock group appeared in a traditional Japanese ‘Ukiyo-e’ woodblock print? For one iconic band, the result was surprisingly harmonious.
The UKIYO-E PROJECT is the brainchild of Yuka Mitsui, a Japanese woman currently living in Los Angeles. Mitsui’s project aims to depict modern day cultures using traditional Japanese woodblock print techniques.
Natsuko Aoike is the chief producer working with Mitsui on the project. She says, if a Japanese woodblock print work is to be called an authentic Ukiyo-e, it must be created by three artisans, an illustrator, a woodcarver, and a hand printer who have inherited the traditional techniques, passed down over several centuries.
“Mitsui knew about the struggles of the Ukiyo-e industry lacking demands for quite some time, and she always wanted to do something about it.” says Aoike. The two came up with the idea of combining traditional Ukiyo-e techniques with modern world scenes at the beginning of 2014. “The word ‘ukiyo’ in Ukiyo-e means ‘current world’. So we wanted to create an Ukiyo-e that follows this original concept.”
With this in mind, last early summer Mitsui went to U.S. Premiere of the Japanese popular anime “Doraemon” in Los Angeles. There she met Nobu Yamamoto of HoriPro Inc., a music publishing company that carried a lot of KISS music rights. One thing led to another, Mitsui was introduced to KISS merchandise licensing company. Mitsui felt it must be some kind of fate, meeting someone related to band known for (among other things) its iconic Kabuki makeup. So she asked for license to create Ukiyo-e prints from images of KISS, and in the fall of 2014 she got it.
“But at this point, although we knew the woodcarvers and hand printers, there was no illustrator who could draw the KISS images to start with. So we had to go and find that person,” recalls Aoike. She adds, there are many people who draw Ukiyo-e-looking illustrations, but there are only a few who have roots in the traditional techniques passed on from the samurai era.
After several weeks, they found Masumi Ishikawa, a young but authentic Ukiyo-e illustrator who studied the ‘Utagawa style,’ Ukiyo-e under the late Toyokuni Utagawa.
Through the collaboration of the illustrator, carver, and the printer, the project bore fruit in February 2015, when KISS actually came to Tokyo for their live concert. “The printers have to hand print almost 100 parts to create one Ukiyo-e piece,” says Aoike. Since the carved lines on the woodblocks wears out and gets thicker as the printing goes on, they limit the number of prints to 200.
The duo of Mitsui and Aoike says they have plans to collaborate with other musicians and artists in the near future.
Originally published at ignition.co.
