What Does It Mean to “Animate” Ukiyo-e? The Lines, Colors and Printing of Woodblock Prints, and Methods of Digital Reconstruction

On Friday, November 6, 2026, the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” opened at the Gifu City Museum of History (until January 11, 2027). The exhibition turns more than 300 works by Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and others into video using 3DCG animation and projection mapping. At THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA in Yokohama, a program tracing Monet and ukiyo-e in about 45 minutes of video begins screening on Saturday, October 24. When woodblock prints that do not move are made to “move,” what is added and what is replaced? This article first confirms how the lines, colors and printing of prints work, and then compares methods of digital reconstruction.

*Disclosure: The “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” and “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART” covered in this article are produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).

Ukiyo-e prints were made through a division of labor among four roles

According to an English-language explanation published by the Tokyo National Museum to accompany a demonstration of woodblock printing, ukiyo-e prints were made through a division of labor among the publisher, the designer, the carver and the printer. The publisher handled planning, promotion and sales, while the designer drew the original picture at the publisher’s request and also decided the placement of colors.

The carver first carved a key block with only the outlines, then carved a separate color block for each color specified by the designer. Each block was also carved with “kento,” registration marks indicating where to place the paper. The printer applied pigment to the blocks and printed one color at a time onto the paper using a round tool called a “baren” (the museum’s explanation).

The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints, a traditional woodblock print workshop, explains the carving process as follows. The carver makes incisions on both sides of the designer’s lines with a knife and clears away the excess with chisels to finish a relief block. According to the institute, Hokusai’s original drawing for “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” is said to have been lost when the carver cut the block, and it does not survive. With ukiyo-e prints, the sheets of paper printed from the blocks are what have come down to us as the works.

Ukiyo-e also includes paintings by the artists’ own hands. The institute distinguishes nikuhitsu (hand-painted) ukiyo-e, one-of-a-kind works painted by the artist, from ukiyo-e prints, mass-produced from the artist’s preparatory drawings. Multiple impressions of the same design survive for prints, but because the printer printed each sheet by hand, each has its own character.

Line, color and printing: How the blocks are layered

Colors are layered one at a time by changing blocks. According to the Tokyo National Museum, the basic pigments were four colors: black, red, yellow and blue. The Adachi Institute explains that the blue of the waves in “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” used Prussian blue (bero-ai), a chemical pigment imported from Europe in the late Edo period, which became popular for a vividness not found in earlier Japanese pigments. The outlines are said to have been printed in natural indigo.

In the process the institute shows for its reproduction of “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” the dark indigo outlines are printed first. Next come an ocher-tinged yellow and gray on the boats, a pale pink (toki-iro) in the sky at the top of the picture, and gradations of light and dark gray in the sky behind Mount Fuji, with light blue and bright indigo printed on the waves last. The print is completed in eight printings in all.

“Bokashi” is an ukiyo-e printing technique for expressing gradations, created by the printer adjusting the amount of pigment and water on the block (the institute). The Tokyo National Museum also notes that bokashi is used to create gradation effects in the sky and pond of a Hiroshige print depicting Kameido Tenmangu Shrine in snow. The printer puts weight on the baren, driving the pigment into the fibers of the washi paper to bring out the color. Each time the paper is repositioned to the registration marks, another layer of color is added.

Handling the tools also takes skill. In an article by the institute, a printer explains that the baren is moved in the direction of the grain of its bamboo-sheath covering, basically from side to side. The printer holds the printing table with the left hand, keeps the center of gravity over the table and prints with the strength of the shoulders, but simply applying force does not work.

Seen this way, the picture plane of an ukiyo-e print is made of layers: the line block and the color blocks. It is a structure close to layers in digital image editing, which also offers clues for thinking about methods of digital reconstruction.

Paper prints and light: Originals can be seen only for limited periods

Seeing original prints is subject to limits on display periods and lighting. The Agency for Cultural Affairs’ “Guidelines for the Handling of the Public Display of National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties” set illuminance for National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties at, in principle, 150 lux or less, and 50 lux or less for prints. Annual display is in principle limited to a total of 60 days, or 30 days for works at high risk of fading or material deterioration.

This autumn, the Tokyo National Museum’s special exhibition “Utagawa Hiroshige: Edo’s Best Angles” (Tuesday, September 29 – Sunday, December 20, 2026) is divided into three periods, with all works changed between periods: “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido,” “Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido” and “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” (Period 1 until October 25, Period 2 October 27 – November 23, Period 3 November 25 – December 20). The exhibition includes an ultra-high-definition video corner showing the beauty of the colors in Hiroshige’s works on large monitors. Details of the exhibition are in our article on the Hiroshige exhibition.

With video, the same works can be shown large, repeatedly, throughout an exhibition’s run. At the Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU, videos of about 3 to 10 minutes are projected on a loop in each video space. Being able to show works free of the constraints on displaying originals is one of the characteristics of digital exhibitions.

Four ways of reconstructing digitally

Showing color and detail with high-resolution data

One method, like the ultra-high-definition video at the Tokyo National Museum’s Hiroshige exhibition, projects images of works at large scale to show their colors. At a nighttime event in January 2025, Daiju-ji in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, used high-resolution digital data of 22 Important Cultural Property painted cedar doors, closed to the public for more than 40 years, for the first time, recreating their world through projection. They are not ukiyo-e, but it is an example of conveying normally unseen works through data.

Creating “three-dimensional video spaces” with 3DCG animation and projection

The Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition creates three-dimensional video spaces with 3DCG animation and projection mapping based on more than 300 works by Hokusai, Kuniyoshi, Hiroshige, Utamaro, Sharaku, Kunisada and others. The Gifu exhibition divides spaces by theme, such as an indigo space centered on Hokusai’s and Hiroshige’s depictions of water, showing vast seas and rough waves in “Japan Blue,” and a space of heroes based on Kuniyoshi’s warrior and sumo prints. A venue-exclusive video in which ukiyo-e on the themes of Oda Nobunaga and cormorant fishing come to life is also planned (details to be announced).

HITOHATA, INC., which plans and produces the series, also created “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART,” based on more than 50 works by Kuniyoshi, for “Ukiyo-e Super Creator: Utagawa Kuniyoshi” at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (2025) and the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art (2026). Its subjects include “Miyamoto Musashi Killing a Giant Whale” and “The Old Palace at Soma.” It is an example of setting up a video space as one of the displays within a museum exhibition.

“Ultrasubjective Space,” creating viewpoints that enter the picture

teamLab suggests that classical East Asian paintings before the modern era may have flattened space according to a logic different from Western perspective. To explore that logic, it built three-dimensional artwork spaces on a computer and searched for ways of rendering them in two dimensions so that they look like classical paintings. It suggests that picture scrolls and sliding-door paintings may have arisen from the freely moving viewpoint, and positions folding screens as “canvases premised on being folded.” The viewpoint is not fixed, and multiple viewers can enter the artwork space from their own positions. teamLab cites its 2012 digital work “Flowers and Corpses: Twelve Hanging Scrolls” as a work visualized in this ultrasubjective space.

Combining video programs with originals and explanations

In THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA’s “Impressionist Monet and Ukiyo-e,” ukiyo-e are covered in the fourth chapter of a roughly 45-minute looping program. The official website cites Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: The Great Wave off Kanagawa” and Hiroshige’s “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido: Nihonbashi,” explaining that their bold compositions and compressed depth made a vivid impression on Western artists. It also says that in their depictions of subtle changes in the atmosphere and weather and of scenes in which people and nature coexist, one can find an aesthetic sensibility that overlaps with Monet’s gaze. The venue also includes a display of ukiyo-e that looks closely at composition, expression and the craftsmanship that produces a single print. Details of the program are in our article on “Impressionist Monet and Ukiyo-e”.

The Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition also displays ukiyo-e printed in the Edo period and reproductions with explanations. At the Gifu exhibition, works planned for display include Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: The Great Wave off Kanagawa” and “Fine Wind, Clear Morning,” Hiroshige’s “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake,” Sharaku’s “Otani Oniji III as Edobei” and Kuniyoshi’s “Miyamoto Musashi Killing a Giant Whale.” At the permanent venue scheduled to open in Ginza in spring 2027, the plan is to display both originals printed in the Edo period and reproductions printed from blocks carved in the Meiji period or later, along with a gallery that exhibits and sells original ukiyo-e. The layout allows visitors to compare the video with impressions from different eras.

What changes when ukiyo-e are made to “move” (Editor’s perspective)

Turning ukiyo-e, made by layering line blocks and color blocks, into video can be seen as separating those layers anew and giving them time, depth and sound. In the process, a print changes form from a single sheet of paper held and looked at in the hand into a space that viewers stand inside.

On the other hand, some things do not show up in video. As the Adachi Institute explains, the printer puts weight on the baren to drive pigment into the fibers of the washi and bring out the color. The texture of the paper and the sharpness of the lines cut by the carver are a different experience from images of light. Placing originals, reproductions and explanations of craftsmanship alongside immersive displays can be seen as a way of bridging that gap. Comparing works that caught one’s interest in video with the originals at an exhibition should make the appeal of printmaking as a technique stand out in even greater relief.

Frequently asked questions

Do original drawings for ukiyo-e survive?

According to the Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints, Hokusai’s original drawing for “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” is said to have been lost when the carver cut the block, and it does not survive. For ukiyo-e prints, the sheets printed from the blocks have come down as the works.

How many printings go into a single ukiyo-e print?

It varies by work. In the process the institute shows for its reproduction of “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” there are eight. According to the Tokyo National Museum, the basic pigments were four colors: black, red, yellow and blue.

Can I take photos at the venues?

It depends on the exhibition. At the Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU, photos and videos can be taken in almost the entire venue, including of the Edo-period ukiyo-e and reproductions. Flash and tripods cannot be used, and some monitor screenings cannot be photographed. A visit takes about 30 minutes for the video spaces alone, or about 1 hour 30 minutes including the explanations.

Where can moving ukiyo-e be seen this autumn and winter?

The “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” runs from Friday, November 6, 2026, to Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday), at the Gifu City Museum of History. Same-day admission is ¥1,500 for adults (high school students and older) and ¥700 for elementary and junior high school students; dates and prices are summarized in our article on the Gifu exhibition. THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA’s “Impressionist Monet and Ukiyo-e” runs from Saturday, October 24, 2026, to Wednesday, March 31, 2027. In spring 2027, the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Museum GINZA” is scheduled to open in Ginza.

*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official websites for the latest information.

For an overview of the best-known prints, see 12 Famous Ukiyo-e Prints: From Hokusai’s “Great Wave” to Sharaku and Kuniyoshi.

For Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s life, major works and where to see them, see Who Was Utagawa Kuniyoshi?

*Top image: “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART in Utagawa Kuniyoshi exhibition” (from HITOHATA, INC.’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements by each organizer and facility and public materials from museums, workshops and government agencies (as of October 21, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: The “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” and “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART” covered in this article are produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).