The 'Hanga Treasure Chest' Series ...
'Hanga' - the Japanese word for 'print' ...
For many years I have made my new year card prints in the Japanese postcard size. Many of my collectors and fans urged me to make 'more' of this type of print, and in 2005, I thought it was time to oblige. I created the 'Hanga Treasure Chest': a set of 24 woodblock prints of that size and general type which was issued throughout 2005 at the rate of a new one every two weeks.
Update: the Treasure Chest is not sold out, and is still available for subscription.
Subscribers to the set receive an attractive storage box. The prints are mounted on cards, and enclosed by a paper wrapper that also contains a short descriptive explanatory piece ... ready to slip into the box for safe-keeping.
A special feature of the set is that the top of the box has a 'flip-up' clear acrylic stand that holds one of the print cards; the idea is that the box sits on a desk or shelf with the newest print on display, then when the next print arrives, you slip the older one into the box and display the newest one ... A new print every two weeks for 12 months ... 24 prints in the set.
The price for each print is 2,000 yen (around $19). Because they are small, shipping is easy (in a light-weight 1st class mailer), and runs about $3 each (overseas). Payment can be made at any schedule convenient to the collector (bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.)
How are the prints made? Of course every one is completely carved and printed by hand; you can get a good overview of the process through this section of my Surimono Albums website.
If you like the idea of having a beautiful woodblock print dropping into your
mailbox every couple of weeks, please consider subscribing to this series!
Here is the page with information on how you can do so!
