Title: Picture Book of One Hundred Thousand Birds Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro Size: Oban (approx. 26.5cm × 40.5cm) Technique: Hand-carved, Hand-printed woodblock print Number of prints: 15 Premium washi: Echizen Kizuki Hōsho (a particularly fine, hand-made Japanese paper from the Echizen region in Fukui Prefecture, crafted in the same tradition for centuries) Carvers: Shigeru Koike, Kentaro Maeda, Torazō Matsuda Printers: Taro Ito, Tadao Endo, Ritsuzo Sato Publisher: Yuyudo Publication date: 1970s Condition: Excellent ----------------------- Contents & Packaging: - Complete Set (15 handmade woodblock prints) - Each print in protective sleeve + portfolio folder + gampi paper interleaving - Original tatami storage box (shitsugata) approx. 55 × 36 × 6 cm ----------------------- Background: The original album from 1791/92 represents the culmination of Utamaro's famous kyōka trilogy (Insects 1788, Shells 1789/90, Birds 1791). The first edition was published by the Edo publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō. You can find originals selling for around $150,000 here: https://www.jonathanahill.com/pages/books/8942/utamaro-kitagawa-artist/momo-chidori-kyoka-awase-manifold-birds-a-competition-of-kyoka-poetry Each double page pairs two different bird species with playful verses (kyōka), creating a charming dialogue between the creatures—a fresh take on the traditional kachō-ga (bird-and-flower) genre. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/57568 ----------------------- About the publisher and Maeda: By the early 20th century, Yuyudo had established itself as one of Japan's finest publishers, maintaining the same rigorous quality standards as 19th-century publishers while some competitors cut corners. When interest in Edo-period woodblock prints revived in the 1950s, Yuyudo launched a project to create new editions of works by the great masters from the golden age of ukiyo-e. They engaged the world's finest woodblock carvers and printers, producing some of the highest-quality reproductions ever made. At their peak, they collaborated with industry giants like Adachi and Takamizawa on impressive projects—including this one. For this series, they worked with none other than Kentaro Maeda, arguably the finest carver of the 20th century and a master at Adachi Hanga. His name appears on nearly every major Adachi project, and he also worked on shin-hanga prints by Paul Jacoulet and Kawase Hasui. For this series, he and his team employed sophisticated techniques like karazuri and kimedashi (blind embossing)—with stunning results. One can clearly see Utamaro's brushstrokes in the woodblock prints in this set, a true hallmark of quality from that era. Reproductions typically skip such effects because the craft suffered with the industry's decline and loss of skill since the Edo period. ----------------------- Price Reference: For reference, The same set is already sold at Mokuhankan in Japan for $1119: https://mokuhankan.com/flea_market/item_page.php?item_number=251437