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*''Active: c. [[1797]]-[[1886]]''
*''Other Names'': 石川治兵衛 ''Ishikawa Jihei''
*''Japanese'': 森屋冶兵衛 ''Moriya Jihei''

Moriya Jihei, born Ishikawa Jihei, was a publisher of ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' prints based in the [[Nihonbashi]] neighborhood of [[Edo]] (later [[Tokyo]]). He worked with a number of artists, including [[Hokusai]], [[Utamaro]], and [[Kunisada]]. Due to the incredible length of his dates of activity, it is quite unlikely that Moriya Jihei was a single individual; rather, it is likely that his successor took on his name, or at least continued to use that name in his professional capacity as a publisher.

Moriya's firm is listed in the colophon (''[[okutsuke]]'') of books he published as Kinshindô (錦森堂); his seal read "Moriji" (森冶).

Jihei is known to have been a member of the ''Jihon [[tonya|toiya]]'', or "Picture Book and Print Publishers Guild" in 1807, and to have been considered a member of the "Old Faction," or ''moto gumi'', of that guild as of 1851. From [[1876]] onwards, he (or his successor in operating his publishing business) used a seal which read "Ichikawa Jihei."

It is unclear when the original Moriya Jihei was born, or when he died, but the name was used over a nearly 100-year span, from roughly 1797, until 1886.

==References==
*Marks, Andreas. ''Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium''. Hotei Publishing, 2011. pp243-245.

[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Merchants]]
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