Changes

The publishing guild's coordinators of censorship and licensing were known as ''gyôji''. Following the issuance of a series of publishing regulations by the shogunate in 1722, publishers had to submit an application to the ''gyôji'' to carve new woodblocks for either new books, or even for reprints of old books. The ''gyôji'' could approve or reject the project, based on shogunate censorship guidelines, or could forward the application to shogunal magistrates for further consideration. Whether a project too closely resembled a book already being published by a competitor was also a consideration which the guild's censors took into account. If approved, the publisher finally had to submit the application (''kaihan negai'') again, along with the manuscript, this time to shogunal officials. Finally, if approved by the shogunate, the guild could register the copyright for that publication. While owning the actual physical woodblocks was the most standard form of copyright (literally, right to copy, right to print, that work), the guild's registration list also protected those who lost the physical blocks, for example, in a fire.<ref>Ikegami, 309.</ref>

The publishing guild's coordinators of censorship and licensing were known as ''gyôji''. Following the issuance of a series of publishing regulations by the shogunate in 1722, publishers had to submit an application to the ''gyôji'' to carve new woodblocks for either new books, or even for reprints of old books. The ''gyôji'' could approve or reject the project, based on shogunate censorship guidelines, or could forward the application to shogunal magistrates for further consideration. Whether a project too closely resembled a book already being published by a competitor was also a consideration which the guild's censors took into account. If approved, the publisher finally had to submit the application (''kaihan negai'') again, along with the manuscript, this time to shogunal officials. Finally, if approved by the shogunate, the guild could register the copyright for that publication. While owning the actual physical woodblocks was the most standard form of copyright (literally, right to copy, right to print, that work), the guild's registration list also protected those who lost the physical blocks, for example, in a fire.<ref>Ikegami, 309.</ref>

Under the repressive regime of [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]] ([[1787]]-[[1793]]), much intellectual production came to be circulated in manuscript form. Anything discussing, let alone criticizing, the shogunate's policies would never pass the publishing guild censors, and could earn the author some serious punishments. [[Utamaro]] was among the most prominent ''ukiyo-e'' artists to fall victim to the censors. Placed under house arrest in [[1804]] and manacled, he never recovered, producing very little work afterwards, and dying just two years later. Fearful of the censors, many writers of political treatises and the like, instead of submitting works for publication, submit them directly to prominent or well-connected samurai officials, in the hopes of influencing policy in that manner.<ref>Ikegami, 310.</ref>  

Censorship was typically very loosely enforced. Despite repeated issuing of bans and restrictions on the publication of certain types of materials, for most of the Edo period, very few artists or publishers were ever punished. The brief regime of [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]] ([[1787]]-[[1793]]) marked the beginning of a brief period of severe strengthening of enforcement, however. During this period, it became far more difficult to get anything past the government censors which even discussed, let alone criticized, the shogunate's policies, and authors became potentially subject to rather serious punishments. As a result, much intellectual production came to be circulated in manuscript form. [[Utamaro]] was among the most prominent ''ukiyo-e'' artists to fall victim to the censors at that time. Placed under house arrest in [[1804]] and manacled, he never recovered, producing very little work afterwards, and dying just two years later. Fearful of the censors, many writers of political treatises and the like, instead of submitting works for publication, submit them directly to prominent or well-connected samurai officials, in the hopes of influencing policy in that manner.<ref>Ikegami, 310.</ref>  

Literacy among urban dwellers in the Edo period has been estimated by some scholars at 80% for men, and 50% for women;<ref>Passin, Herbert. ''Society and Education in Japan''. New York: Teachers College Press, 1965. p57.</ref> including both urban and rural populations across the entire archipelago, the male literacy figures may have been closer to 40-50%.<ref>Schirokauer, et al. ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 137.</ref>

Literacy among urban dwellers in the Edo period has been estimated by some scholars at 80% for men, and 50% for women;<ref>Passin, Herbert. ''Society and Education in Japan''. New York: Teachers College Press, 1965. p57.</ref> including both urban and rural populations across the entire archipelago, the male literacy figures may have been closer to 40-50%.<ref>Schirokauer, et al. ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 137.</ref>

[[File:Baren.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Woodblock carving tools, and ''baren'' (used for rubbing the image onto the paper). Santa Barbara Museum of Art.]]

[[File:Baren.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Woodblock carving tools, and ''baren'' (used for rubbing the image onto the paper). Santa Barbara Museum of Art.]]

Publishers would often initiate projects, deciding on themes and hiring illustrators or print designers. The illustrators would then submit their designs to the publisher, who would then take over much of the remainder of the process. A highly skilled professional ''hangiya'' (板木屋, block-carver) would lay the design over the block - sometimes using a reproduction of the design created for this purpose by a copyist or ''hanshitagaki'' (版下書) - and use that ''shita-e'' (下絵, "under-drawing") as a guideline for carving out key blocks, showing just the monochrome outlines. ''Hangiya'' were professional artisans, and highly organized as such in craft guilds, working most often with publishers in a manner akin to independent contractors; some of the largest publishing houses had their own in-house blockcarvers, however. Once these initial blocks were cut, a printer (also a professional skilled artisan) would produce a number of impressions from the key block, and send them to the illustrator, or the publisher, who then indicated which colors should be applied and where. These drafts were sent to the blockcarver once more, who now carved separate blocks for each color, sending those to the printer, to produce the actual final commercial copies to be sold.<ref>Gallery labels, "Making Woodblock Prints," Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, December 2012.</ref>

Publishers would often initiate projects, deciding on themes and hiring illustrators or print designers. The illustrators would then submit their designs to the publisher, who would then take over much of the remainder of the process. A highly skilled professional ''hangiya'' (板木屋, block-carver) would lay the design over the block - sometimes using a reproduction of the design created for this purpose by a copyist or ''hanshitagaki'' (版下書) - and use that ''shita-e'' (下絵, "under-drawing") as a guideline for carving out key blocks, showing just the monochrome outlines. ''Hangiya'' were professional artisans, and highly organized as such in craft guilds, working most often with publishers in a manner akin to independent contractors; some of the largest publishing houses had their own in-house blockcarvers, however. Once these initial blocks were cut, a printer (also a professional skilled artisan) would produce a number of impressions from the key block, and send them to the illustrator, or the publisher, who then indicated which colors should be applied and where. These drafts were sent to the blockcarver once more, who now carved separate blocks for each color, sending those to the printer, to produce the actual final commercial copies to be sold.<ref>Gallery labels, "Making Woodblock Prints," Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, December 2012.</ref> ''Kento'', or registration marks, were a very simple but key innovation allowing for more successful multi-color printing; a small L-shaped mark was carved into the blocks, allowing the paper to be properly lined up on the blocks, even as a single printed sheet of paper was moved between many different blocks, as different colors (different layers) were added.

Originally, cheaper and softer woods were used, and designs were cut more deeply, but the use of more expensive woods such as cherry, carved more shallowly into much thinner woodblocks was spurred by the popularity of prints by [[Suzuki Harunobu]] in the late 1760s in the new multicolor ''[[nishiki-e]]'' mode that he pioneered; by 1800 or so, materials and techniques previously used only for ''[[surimono]]'' and other much more expensive and exclusive publications came to be used more widely, and the costs of producing and buying works produced in this manner dropped dramatically. [[Cedar]] (''sugi'') continued to be used at times, but this was more expensive and more difficult to carve. The [[catalpa]] wood (梓, J: ''azusa'', C: ''zǐ'') typically used in China was never commonly used in Japan, but the character continued to be used to refer to the process of printing or publishing. For example, while most books used the character 版 ("printing") in the colophon to indicate the date, place, and/or publisher, many used the verb 上梓 (''jôshi''), meaning "to print" or "to publish."

Originally, cheaper and softer woods were used, and designs were cut more deeply, but the use of more expensive woods such as cherry, carved more shallowly into much thinner woodblocks was spurred by the popularity of prints by [[Suzuki Harunobu]] in the late 1760s in the new multicolor ''[[nishiki-e]]'' mode that he pioneered; by 1800 or so, materials and techniques previously used only for ''[[surimono]]'' and other much more expensive and exclusive publications came to be used more widely, and the costs of producing and buying works produced in this manner dropped dramatically. [[Cedar]] (''sugi'') continued to be used at times, but this was more expensive and more difficult to carve. The [[catalpa]] wood (梓, J: ''azusa'', C: ''zǐ'') typically used in China was never commonly used in Japan, but the character continued to be used to refer to the process of printing or publishing. For example, while most books used the character 版 ("printing") in the colophon to indicate the date, place, and/or publisher, many used the verb 上梓 (''jôshi''), meaning "to print" or "to publish."