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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>
==Modern Period==
In the 20th century, two new prints movements emerged.
''[[Shin hanga]]'' (lit. "new prints") were a continuation of the commercial ''ukiyo-e'' phenomenon. Seeing its peak in the 1920s, and promoted chiefly by publisher [[Watanabe Shozaburo|Watanabe Shôzaburô]] and featuring artists such as [[Kawase Hasui]] and [[Yoshida Hiroshi]], the movement used the same techniques and processes as ''ukiyo-e'', with separate artists, carvers, and publishers, albeit expanding the number of color blocks, and incorporating brighter modern pigments, and modern design elements such as light & shadow, and point perspective. ''Shin hanga'' prints most often depicted romantic scenes of traditional Japan (albeit often with modern elements), including picturesque scenes of natural landscapes or traditional architecture, and aimed to create images that would sell well, especially to foreign buyers.
''[[Sosaku hanga|Sôsaku hanga]]'', or "creative prints," meanwhile, were prints designed, carved, and printed by a single artist himself, without professional block-carvers, printers, or publishers. Related to the ''[[mingei]]'' (folk craft) and other Modern Art movements, ''sôsaku hanga'' focused on the artist's individual personal expression, and stylistic experimentation. [[Yamamoto Kanae]] was one of the pioneers of the movement, beginning in the 1880s; ''sôsaku hanga'' continued to develop over the course of the 20th century, with many prominent artists in both the prewar and postwar periods.
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