The Process of Making a "Leisure Book," volume 27 of the series Leisure Time Leisure Books
Artist
Maekawa Senpan
(Japanese, 1888 - 1960)
Date1960
PeriodShōwa period (1926–1989)
MediumWoodblock printed book; ink and color on paper
DimensionsOverall: 6 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 3/16 in. (16.5 × 9.5 × 0.5 cm)
ClassificationsBooks
Credit LineGift of Charles and Robyn Citrin, 2020
Object number2020.23.1
Between 1945 and 1960, Maekawa Senpan created a series of woodblock printed books titled Leisure Time Leisure Books. These pocket-sized volumes addressed topics such as sweets, folk crafts, volcanic hot springs, and Japanese language with gentle humor and occasional poignancy. Here, in a sequence of charming self-portraits, Maekawa illustrated how he created a “Leisure Book,” from midnight conception, designing and carving the blocks, to distributing the finished product to subscribers. The artist died before completing this final volume and the work was published posthumously.
1/19 (Cover)
Kanchū kanpon (Leisure Time Leisure Book)
Number 27: The Process of Making a Kanpon (Leisure Book)
2/19 (Title page)
Kanchū kanpon (Leisure Time Leisure Book)
Number 27: The Process of Making a Kanpon
3/19 (Edition information)
Number 142 out of a limited edition of 150
4/19 (page1/2)
All year, I think about what to do for my next project. Even when sleeping, the pressure haunts me, but sometimes a good idea emerges in a dream. So in the middle of the night, I would need to make a note. Thus, bit by bit, I create a Kanpon (Leisure Book).
5/19 (page 3/4)
First, I make a shitae (a design for carving the block) on thin paper. This shitae is for the black keyblock, which serves as a guide for the distribution of the colors. At first, I would make a draft every time, but now I just dash it off.
6/19 (page 5/6)
I give the printing block a good coat of glue and paste the shitae face down onto it. The block is usually made of katsura (Japanese Judas tree) or hackberry wood. Sometimes I use plywood.
7/19 (page 7/8)
First of all I carve the keyblock. Carving requires force in the tip of one’s hands, so even in winter my whole body becomes so warm that I don’t need a brazier. The area around my desk becomes so littered with flakes of wood that it looks like a workshop.
Page 9/10
It’s bothersome that Kanpon (Leisure Books) have text in them. For fine work I wear two sets of spectacles. When I do especially detailed carving, I use magnifying lenses. Even so, fine components get chipped and fly off. For missing characters and corrections, I insert a new piece of wood and re-carve it.
Page 11/12
When the black plate is done I print it. Using this, I make a second shitae with color, which I glue to separate wood plate and then carve the design into the wood, and then a third shitae and a fourth. I make a separate plate for each color in the design.
Page 13/14
When I have all the color plates ready, I print the black plate and then impress the colors in turn to complete one print. Kanpon have 14 images, so I need to do this fourteen times.
Page 15/16
Recently, I have been using plywood. Chinese plywood is good for color blocks because it’s light, easy to work with, and it’s cheap and efficient. However, cutting 6 × 3 foot sheets of wood in my small studio is sweaty, backbreaking work.
Page 17/18
Completing one impression is as follows.
I do a trial print and correct any problem areas. When it’s ready, I print the artist’s self-printed editions on special paper. These serve as models for the printer. At that point, the artist’s work is done, and the printer takes over.
Page 19/20
One book has 14 images, which amounts to 14 black plates and five or six times as many color plates. Creating each of these is a momentous task.
After that, there is the title and the introduction. I put the blocks for each picture in order and send them to Mr. K., the printer, and prepare the paper.
Page 21/22
Each volume has 18 pages, so one edition requires over 3000 sheets of paper. In addition to this, there is the cover and the slip cover, so printing is high-pressure work. When printing is complete, the books are bound.
The binding of this book is a little different to Japanese binding. During the war, when there was no string or anything, we bound books using a technique that required no string. This method continues to be used today.
Page 23/24
The cover and the slipcover are printed using the same block. Only the colors are changed for each printing. Over time, the block gets damaged and the surface becomes rough or thin.
After around 5 editions, it needs to be re-carved.
Page 25/26
Midway through writing the text for the previous 12 images, the artist unfortunately passed away. However, based on the manuscript he left, the following supplement was added. The text for images 13 and 14 are as follows.
Characters from the text are used to print the title. For the coverslip, only the right half of the block is printed. Because of this, the printing block is designed to split into left and right sides.
When binding, we fold the page at the center the image, and taking care not to mix up the order of the pages, we put each book together one page at a time. The spines are secured one volume at a time, and the covers are attached.
The edition is limited to 150 volumes. There are 10 volumes self-printed by the artist. There may be a few extras. The rest are delivered to subscribers.
How much further will Kanchū Kanpon, now at 27 volumes, continue? The artist intends to do his best.
Page 27/28
Kanchō kanpon series chronology
1. A Record of Remembered Sweets, early spring 1945
2. Wildflowers, early winter 1946
3. A Record of Making Paper, late autumn 1947
4. Snow-viewing in Hokuetsu, spring 1948
5. Children’s Diversions, spring 1949
6. Lingering Impressions of Hot Springs, summer 1949
7. Scenery of Yamanojō, spring 1950
8. Islands of the East and West, autumn 1950
9. The Customs of Chiyogami (Japanese colored paper), spring 1951
10. A Feast of Mountain Vegetables, autumn 1951
11. Lucky and Unlucky Fortune Slips, autumn 1952
12. Traveling East and West, summer 1953
13. A Syllabary Book of Words Beginning with Voiced Consonant, early spring 1954
14. Lingering Impressions of Hot Springs, Part II, autumn 1954
15. Flowers and Moon, Light and Shadow, early summer 1955
16. Naruko Kokeshi Dolls, winter 1955
17. Fireside Chats, autumn 1956
18. Fushimi Dolls, early spring 1957
19. Mountain Wildflowers, summer 1957
20. Various Noises of the Street, winter 1957
21. Papier-mâché Darumas, early spring 1958
22. Customs of Ezo, autumn 1958
23. The Landscape of Mt Fuji, early summer 1959
24. The Poetry of the Seasons, autumn 1959
25. The Bounty of the Mountains and Sea, spring 1960
26. Small Sketches en Plein Air, early summer 1960
27. The Process of Making a Kanpon, autumn 1960
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