Changes

==History==

==History==

===Pre-Modern Printing===

===Pre-Modern Printing===

Throughout the pre-modern period, up until the late 16th century, printed materials in Japan were largely Buddhist texts, and were almost exclusively produced or sponsored by Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, court nobles, the Imperial Court, or samurai elites. The vast majority of these, it is believed, were not produced to be read, but rather were produced as religious offerings. The donor or patron gained religious merit through commissioning and funding the production of the work, and from then donating it to a temple; the work, stored away inside a temple's storehouse or otherwise buried or hidden away, would then go unread.<ref>Keyes, 11.</ref>

Throughout the pre-modern period, up until the late 16th century, printed materials in Japan were largely Buddhist texts, and were almost exclusively produced or sponsored by Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, court nobles, the Imperial Court, or samurai elites. The vast majority of these, it is believed, were not produced to be read, but rather were produced as religious offerings. The donor or patron gained religious merit through commissioning and funding the production of the work, and from then donating it to a temple; the work, stored away inside a temple's storehouse or otherwise buried or hidden away, would then go unread.<ref>Keyes, 11.</ref>

[[Image:Ukiyoe-shop.jpg|right|thumb|450px|A recreation of an Edo period storefront selling ''ukiyo-e'' prints and books, at the Edo-Tokyo Museum.]]

[[Image:Ukiyoe-shop.jpg|right|thumb|450px|A recreation of an Edo period storefront selling ''ukiyo-e'' prints and books, at the Edo-Tokyo Museum.]]

The earliest publishing houses emerged in Kyoto around 1600; simply called ''hon'ya'' (bookstores) they engaged in both printing/publishing and retail.<ref name=ikegami286>Ikegami, 286.</ref> By around 1626, commercial publishing was more fully underway, woodblock printing had become definitively the predominant form, and use of moveable type had fallen away.<ref name=smith334/><ref name=ikegami292/> Publishing came to [[Osaka]] in the 1660s, and to Edo relatively late by comparison, but grew rapidly over the course of the 17th century, and by the year 1800 dramatically eclipsed the [[Kamigata|Kyoto-Osaka]] (combined) publishing industry. The first half of the 19th century saw the continued growth of publishing in the three major cities, as well as the emergence of commercial publishing operations in a number of provincial centers.<ref name=smith334/> Over the course of the entire Edo period, an estimated 3,757 publishing/bookstore operations were established in Japan, 1,530 of which went out of business before the end of the period.<ref>Ikegami, 295.</ref> The three major cities combined accounted for roughly 89% of publishing production; among the secondary or provincial centers of production, Nagoya was the most active, with roughly 104 independent publishers operating at one point or another (not simultaneously) in the Edo period. Other major publishing centers included Nagasaki, Wakayama, Ise, Hiroshima, Sendai, and Kanazawa.<ref>Over the course of the entire Edo period, it has been estimated there were 1,733 publishing firms in Kyoto, 1,652 in Edo, 1,253 in Osaka, 104 in Nagoya, 49 in Ise, 24 in Wakayama, 27 in Sendai, 24 in Kanazawa, 21 in Nagasaki, and 312 elsewhere. Smith. p342, citing Inoue Takaaki. ''Kinsei shorin hanmoto sôran'' 近世書林版元総覧. ''Nihon shoshigaku taikei 14'' 日本書誌学体系１４. Seishôdô Shoten, 1981. p6.</ref>

The earliest publishing houses emerged in Kyoto around 1600; simply called ''hon'ya'' (bookstores) they engaged in both printing/publishing and retail.<ref name=ikegami286>Ikegami, 286.</ref> By around 1626, commercial publishing was more fully underway, woodblock printing had become definitively the predominant form, and use of moveable type had fallen away.<ref name=smith334/><ref name=ikegami292/> Publishing came to [[Osaka]] in the 1660s, and to Edo relatively late by comparison, but grew rapidly over the course of the 17th century, and by the year 1800 dramatically eclipsed the [[Kamigata|Kyoto-Osaka]] (combined) publishing industry. The first half of the 19th century saw the continued growth of publishing in the three major cities, as well as the emergence of commercial publishing operations in a number of provincial centers.<ref name=smith334/> Over the course of the entire Edo period, an estimated 3,757 publishing/bookstore operations were established in Japan, 1,530 of which went out of business before the end of the period.<ref>Ikegami, 295.</ref> The three major cities combined accounted for roughly 89% of publishing production; among the secondary or provincial centers of production, Nagoya was the most active, with roughly 104 independent publishers operating at one point or another (not simultaneously) in the Edo period. Other major publishing centers included Nagasaki, Wakayama, Ise, Hiroshima, Sendai, and Kanazawa.<ref>Over the course of the entire Edo period, it has been estimated there were 1,733 publishing firms in Kyoto, 1,652 in Edo, 1,253 in Osaka, 104 in Nagoya, 49 in Ise, 24 in Wakayama, 27 in Sendai, 24 in Kanazawa, 21 in Nagasaki, and 312 elsewhere. Smith. p342, citing Inoue Takaaki. ''Kinsei shorin hanmoto sôran'' 近世書林版元総覧. ''Nihon shoshigaku taikei 14'' 日本書誌学体系１４. Seishôdô Shoten, 1981. p6.</ref>