"Japanese Popular Prints" is an entertaining, surprising and unique journey through the popular culture of the most colorful period in Japanese history. Some may already be familiar with Japanese woodblock prints, yet after looking through the 221 color illustrations here, Japanese art lovers are likely to discover images for the first time.
With beautiful and little-known prints of the 18th and 19th centuries, the book introduces page after page of entertaining, comical and intriguing images that give an in-depth view of the daily lives, forms of entertainment, mind-sets and pleasures of the fun-loving residents of Edo.
Rebecca Salter, an accomplished woodblock artist herself, gives an insightful description of the development of Japanese woodblock printing — from its black-and-white Buddhist origins to the golden age of ukiyo-e in the 19th century — and enlightens us with details of the important publisher-artist-carver-printer relationship. She goes on to introduce us to Edo society, its passions, social excesses, censorship laws and, most importantly, its love for play on all levels from lighthearted children's games and frivolous popular indulgences to complex visual parodies and social satire.