Japanese Woodblock

Japanese Woodblock Biography.

   Woodblock-printed books from Chinese Buddhist temples were seen in Japan as early as the eighth century. In 764 the Empress Kōken commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll printed with a Buddhist text (Hyakumanto Darani). These were distributed to temples around the country as thanksgiving for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764.[1] These are the earliest examples of woodblock printing known, or documented, from Japan.

   By the eleventh century, Buddhist temples in Japan were producing their own printed books of sutras, mandalas, and other Buddhist texts and images. For centuries, printing was restricted only to the Buddhist sphere, as it was too expensive for mass production, and did not have a receptive, literate public to which such things might be marketed.

Japanese Woodblock

 Japanese Woodblock

 Japanese Woodblock

 Japanese Woodblock

 Japanese Woodblock

 Japanese Woodblock

 Japanese Woodblock

 Japanese Woodblock

 

Japanese Woodblock

Japanese woodblock printing

Japanese Woodblock

Japanese Woodblock Printing