The 'Table of Contents' page

This front page for the site gives immediate access to all the content - an overview of my work, images of all the prints I have made, stories about them, on-line copies of my newsletter, and many many other things to see and read.

Scrolling down the page you are now on will give an alternate method of visiting much of the site - showing each of the major sections as though they were independent websites ...

Gift Prints!

It's time again for the annual Gift Print. Each year as we approach the gift season, I select one of the designs from my many series, get the blocks out of the storeroom, print up a batch specifically for this purpose, and put it into my Mokuhankan catalogue. The gift print for this year is a beautiful image of a leaping 'koi' taken from a woodblock printed kimono catalogue from the Meiji era.

'My Solitudes'

In a radical departure from the previous two decades of making reproductions of traditional Japanese prints, the new project features designs of my own creation. My Solitudes is a two-year project (summer '07 ~ spring '09), and consists of a set of 12 woodblock prints, each paired with a chapter of a book, together illustrating and describing three of my 'private' nature retreats through the course of a year.

The progress of the current print is always documented in an ongoing series of postings on the Woodblock RoundTable.

Mokuhankan

After many years of thinking about it, I have finally opened a woodblock print publishing venture - Mokuhankan. My own personal subscription-based printmaking will continue, but now, alongside that, I will publish prints produced by other craftsmen working under my direction. I hope you find some of the prints to your liking!

Scroll Project

After the long year of work making 24 prints in the Treasure Chest, I flipped right the other way for 2006 - I produced just one print, making a reproduction of an early Edo-era painting, in scroll form.

I also documented the process as I went along, and you can read about it on these pages.

'Small Print Collection'

As a result of prodding from collectors to do another series of small prints that incorporates a display stand, I introduced the Small Print Collection in 2006. There are ten prints in this set, making it my most affordable print series ever!

The prints can all be seen on the pages here.

'Hanga Treasure Chest'

Introducing my Treasure Chest - a set of 24 postcard-size prints, packed together with a storage box that doubles as a beautiful display stand. For yourself, or for a friend, it is a dynamite gift idea ... a beautiful new print arrives in your mailbox every two weeks!

Read all about it on these pages.

'Beauties of Four Seasons'

This section of the website showcases my series of four prints based on the bijin (beautiful women) theme.

Here is the 'concert programme' ...

The 'Surimono Albums'

This website displays the delicate and beautiful 'surimono' prints that I made in the five years following the end of my ten-year long 'Hyakunin Isshu' print series. Of particular interest may be the detailed series of photographs showing each step in the production of one of the prints.

Get to the site through its main index page.

The 'Hyakunin Isshu' print series

This website contains the complete set of images of my reproduction set of Katsukawa Shunsho's designs for the famous 'One Hundred Poems from One Hundred Poets'.

Making the complete set took me ten years - from 1989 through 1998. It won't take you that long to browse the prints and stories!

The 'Woodblock RoundTable'

Using the 'Movable Type' software, I have created the RoundTable as a place where my collectors (and fans) can offer their comments and discussion on my work.

And it's not just the woodblock prints that are featured ... there is also a large selection of essays to provoke discussion ...

The 'Woodblock Shimbun'

Perusing media material is an excellent way to get familiar with my work, so I have scanned/ripped/typed a number of items - TV programs, newspaper clippings, and radio interviews - and included them here in my 'Woodblock Shimbun'. You will find a 'Table of Contents' over on the Index Page. Please take a look at some of the material; I think you might enjoy it!

A Story A Week

This collection of stories had its genesis in pieces I submitted to various weekly papers in Tokyo. Although these newspapers and magazines are aimed at Japanese people who wish to improve their English reading and comprehension skills, it seems that my writing style - straightforward and familiar - is enjoyable for native speakers too. So a couple of years ago I decided to publish a series of stories on my own, on a special web site devoted to them.

A new story is issued every Sunday morning here in Tokyo; please enjoy reading them at http://astoryaweek.com. And collections of the stories are now in print!

The Giant Stride - Woodblock Prints of John Edgar Platt

English printmaker John Platt died in 1967, leaving behind a collection of 40 woodblock prints.

This website brings this neglected and important artist back into view again. A unique combination of two traits - he was both a thorough and meticulous craftsman and a man with a 'vision' - placed him in a unique position in the history of woodblock printmaking.I hope you will enjoy seeing his work, which deserves much wider attention. The website is located at: http://woodblock.com/platt

Pippimama's Art Collection

'Pippimama' is a lady in Tokyo who assists various Japanese artists - both modern and traditional - to obtain a web presence. In her site you will find information from a traditional indigo dyer, a copper sculptor, a man making carved name plates, and more ...

Pippimama's website is here.

Encyclopedia of Japanese Printmaking Technique

Very slowly, over a period of many years, I am collecting and publishing information on the traditional Japanese printmaking techniques. This section of the website will never be 'finished', but there is now quite a lot of interesting and useful information here ...