The purpose of this catalogue is twofold: to enlarge the understanding of print collectors who may be unaware of the long historical and legendary background of a game that has for centuries engaged the interest of many artists in Japan; and to enrich the experience of go players by presenting works that reveal some of the large body of traditions and associations connected with the game in Japan's cultural life. Although artists were inspired by the game of go to work the theme in several media--wood, ivory, metal, textiles, and clay, and while the motif appears on numerous scroll and screen paintings--it is in woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) that its image is most frequently found.

. . . there is a text that likens the world to a go-board. For those who see with their minds, it is the centre of the universe.¹

Faithful to ancient Chinese tradition and legends that portrayed go as integral to myths of beginnings and a contemplative pastime worthy of Sages and Immortals, artists situated players at the farthest reaches of remoteness, on the towering peaks of cloud-wreathed mountains emblematic of Taoist concepts of spiritual ascent and transcendence. In such surroundings the board was shown to inhere in nature itself -- incised in the rock's surface -- with the course of play possessing the power to dissolve all boundaries of time and space. Depicted is a way of being lost in thought, transported `out of this world,' and a means by which religious adepts could contemplate the infinite.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, artists of Japan's Edo period (1615-1868) represented go in its role as activity and participant -- in the theatre often occupying center stage -- in the swiftly passing pleasures of life, among those diversions indicative of the transience of la dolce vita:

Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms, and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating, caring not a whit for the pauperism staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current; this is the floating world.²

It is in celebration of this ephemeral floating world of pleasures seized from fugitive time that the greater number of ukiyo-e (`pictures of the floating world') were crafted. In ways anticipating the French Impressionists and their portrayals of everyday life that included the life of the stage and backstage, of cafés and brothels, ukiyo-e artists frequented the pleasure districts, doubtless for the fun of it but also because it was there they found and mined a rich abundance of subjects for their prints. Sharing a similar order of self-presentation, actors and courtesans of high rank (for whom the art of playing go was a social requirement) were inevitably the subjects most commonly sought by the public.

The Japanese public tended to be conservative in its taste, relishing the familiar over the new. Most artists, therefore, worked in set forms and drew upon a limited and widely shared repertoire of subjects. Woodblock prints of the ukiyo-e school drew upon a deep pool of associations and allusions to which literature, legend, philosophy, and history each contributed, providing the public for whom they were made with an emotional resonance that went far beyond their purely graphic qualities. This, rather than novelty, was what the artists usually strove for. Since it was assumed that everyone knew what the `Four Accomplishments' involved, an artist could present the theme in ingenious disguises. For example, children or women might be substituted for the more traditional scholars, and sometimes the various instruments of the four arts were not shown explicitly but only suggested by means of visual puns, such as a kite on a string to represent a koto.

For those not familar with the game these prints depict, that for over 3,000 years go has held in thrall the cultures of East Asia -- of them most constant in devotion, and extravagance, Japan -- is sufficient cause for its recurrence as a motif in the several realms portrayed in art. But it is, as well, the numinous elegance of the game's playing equipment, and the continuously subtle shape-shifting configurations of design and pattern, woven and unwoven across the board like a calligraphic web from first transfixing move to last in the evolution of a long game, that best explain the bewitching of artists' eyes.

There are about ten themes related to go that were constantly reworked by the ukiyo-e artists, and nine out of ten prints can be interpreted within the framework of them. For clarity of presentation this catalogue has organized these ten subjects into eleven chapters in which the primary pictorial themes are discussed. There follow below some standard terms, a list of important artists and their dates, and an annotated bibliography.

By `Japanese print' I mean an original work of art on paper printed from woodblocks. Every step in the process, from creating the design to the engraving, the coloring of the blocks by the application of organic and mineral colors, and the actual printing sheet by sheet, was (and often still is) done by hand in accordance with traditional methods, with the result that each impression taken off the blocks is in some degree different from every other and therefore unique. Such a print exists in its own terms, not as a copy or reproduction of anything else, the original artist's sketch being usually destroyed or discarded.

The first printing, it is believed, customarily ran to 200 impressions, but if the print was popular more would be printed, perhaps using fewer and cheaper pigments, until public interest or the block itself was exhausted. Several well-known designs by the great landscape artist Hiroshige, for example, exist in several impressions ranging in quality from superb through mediocre to perfectly awful. As a class, however, go prints are relatively scarce and do not often offer the luxury of alternate choices. I have found, in twenty-five years of print-hunting, that a go subject turns up about once in every two or three thousand different designs.

Unlike what we find in the world of modern art, prints published before the 20th century in Japan were never numbered or signed. Instead, the artist's signature was engraved into the key-block (the block from which the outlines of the design were printed in black) along with the title of the print, the publisher's name and mark, sometimes also the names of the personages depicted, and usually the censor's seal, if one was required. Most of this information appears in the image itself, but some of it may appear in the margins. The artist's seal, if he used one, and sometimes the censor's seal as well, were carved into the red color block. Color prints required the use of several blocks, usually one for each color. Some prints also made use of individual handwork, such as burnishing, the application of mica or metallic powder, the random scattering of white pigment for snowflakes and similar techniques.

As a rule, prints were inexpensive and were bought as souvenirs of visits to the theater, to the pleasure quarters, and to the great cities, and were treated with little respect by the Japanese public until Westerners began collecting them near the end of the 19th century. As a consequence, despite their immense popularity during the 18th and 19th centuries, countless designs by many artists have completely disappeared, and others are known only by one or two examples. Prints are vulnerable not only to careless handling but also to attack by moisture, mildew, small insects, the binder's knife, acidic mounts and backing, and exposure to light. If a print is to be framed it is prudent to take precautions that high archival (museum) standards are adhered to, with care taken to avoid hanging the print where bright light will strike it.

Most of the prints illustrated in this catalogue are in color unless otherwise described as sumizuri, which means printed in black only. Prints made before the 1740s were often colored by hand. Full-color printing began in the year 1765. Because of their interest, a very small number of prints, whose originals are in color, are being presented here in black-and-white since color photos are not available.

Rice paper is a term to avoid -- no rice paper was involved in the production of woodblock prints. Japanese prints were (and often still are) printed on paper made of the inner bark of the mulberry tree mixed with the pith of certain reeds and vines in various proportions. This paper is extremely tough, yet flexible, and contains no chemicals or bleaches to cause it to deteriorate with age. It was a product of village craftsmen and their wives, working according to ancient traditions. High quality paper of this type was prized for gift-giving, donating to temples, and special occasions. Small quantities of such paper occasionally reached Amsterdam in the 17th century, imported from the Far East by Dutch trading companies, and was much prized by Rembrandt, among other artists.

Artists represented in this catalogue and an index of their works may be found by clicking Index in the frame to the left.

Edo Period

Bumpo (1779-1821)
Eisho (active ca. 1790s)
Eizan (1787-1867)
Gakutei (ca. 1786-1868)
Harunobu (ca. 1724-70)
Hirosada (active ca. 1820s-60s)
Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Hiroshige II (1829-69)
Hokkei (1780-1856)
Hokuei (active ca. 1830s)
Hokusai (1760-1845)
Kaigetsudo School (1st half 18th Century)
Kiyohiro (active ca. 1750s-60s)
Kiyomasu (active ca. 1690s-1720s)
Kiyomasu II (active 1720s-60s)
Kiyomitsu (1735-85)
Kiyonaga (1752-1815)
Kiyonobu (1664-1729)
Kiyonobu II (1706-63)
Kiyotsune (active 1757-79)
Korin (1658-1716)
Koryusai (active 1760s-80s)
Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (1786-1865)
Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)
Masanobu (ca. 1686-1764)
Moronobu (?-1694)
Sharaku (active 1794-95)
Shuncho (active ca. 1780-95)
Shun'ei (ca. 1762-1819)
Shunman (1757-1820)
Shuncho (active ca. 1780-95)
Shunsho (1726-93)
Taiga (1723-76)
Toyoharu (1735-1814)
Toyokuni (1769-1825)
Toyokuni II (1777-1835)
Utamaro (1750-1806)

Meiji Period

Chikanobu (1838-1912)
Kiyochika (1847-1915)
Kunichika (1835-1900)
Kunimasu IV (active ca. 1880s)
Kyosai (1831-89)
Sadahide (1807-73)
Yoshitoshi (1839-92)

Taisho, Showa Periods

Hiratsuka Un'ichi (1895-1997)
Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921)
Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Kitano Tsunetomi (1880-1947)
Kobayakawa Kiyoshi (1897-1948)
Munakata Shiko (1903-75)
Ohara Shoson (Koson) (1877-1945)
Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955)
Sekino Jun'ichiro (1914-88)
Tsuruya Kokei (1946-)
Yamamoto Kanae (1882-1946)
Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1956)

Binyon, Laurence and J.J. O'Brien Sexton: Japanese Colour Prints. First published by Faber and Faber in London in 1923 and reprinted several times, most recently by Robert G. Sawyers, London.

A valuable classic, full of sound information and enthusiasm, but old-fashioned in its view (generally accepted until quite recently) that little of value, except for Hokusai and Hiroshige, was done after around 1830. Valuable for the text, not the illustrations, which are somewhat skimpy.

Ficke, Arthur Davidson: Chats on Japanese Prints. T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1915. Reprinted.

Ficke, a wealthy lawyer, connoisseur and poet (and the beloved of Edna St. Vincent Millay), helped to establish the standard views of the history of the Japanese woodblock print which remained dominant well into the 1960s (see James Michener, below). A man of sensitive and fastidious taste, still worth reading for his suggestive insights if not for his historical accuracy.

Gentles, Margaret O.: Volume II. The Clarence Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints: Harunobu, Koryusai, Shigemasa, Their Followers and Contemporaries. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1965.

Gunsaulus, Helen C.: The Clarence Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints: The Primitives. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1955.

These two large volumes in identical format are exemplars of marvelous cataloguing. Hundreds of prints are illustrated, identified, dated, analyzed, and -- something almost always overlooked in other catalogues -- every bit of writing on the face of the print is translated. An irreplaceable source of interest and instruction.

Hillier, Jack: The Japanese Print: A New Approach. G. Bell & Sons, London, 1960. Reprinted by Tuttle, 1975.

An eminent authority of the present day discusses some first-rate artists often overlooked in conventional histories. Hillier's charm and modesty and the shrewdness of his judgements have won him many admirers.

Ishida, Mosaku (English adaptation by Charles S. Terry): Japanese Buddhist Prints. Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1964.

The printing of images on paper and on fabric by means of woodblocks was known in Japan by the 8th century and continues, the techniques largely unchanged, in Buddhist temples today. This work is an excellent pictorial survey of this long tradition. Side-grain block engraving, the placement of figures in empty space, the hieratic iconography of stately or violent male and female figures, and the coloring of black-and-white prints by hand were some of the traditions carried over directly or by way of secular book illustration into the Ukiyo-e school of printmaking. Huge numbers were produced by various temples and shrines to serve as inexpensive souvenirs of pious visits, and this, too, had a great impact on the manner of production of Ukiyo-e prints.

Kawakita, Michiaki: Contemporary Japanese Prints. Kodansha International, Tokyo and Palo Alto, California, 1967.

Good selection of post-World War II prints in woodblock and other media, most of the media in the `international' style, which during the 1950s and '60s superseded the traditional styles.

Kawatake, Shigetoshi: Sogo Nihon Gikyoku Jiten (A Comprehensive Dictionary of Japanese Drama). Heibonsha, Tokyo, 1964.

Lane, Richard: Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print. G. P Putnam's Sons, New York, 1978.

Chock full of information drawn from many sources -- perhaps too much to fit comfortably into one heavy volume in which the pages are glued, not sewn. The first half of the book is essentially a reprint of the author's Masters of the Japanese Print, published in 1962, while the second half is an `Illustrated Dictionary', listing the artists, their principle works, the publishers, and technical terms.

Michener, James and Richard Lane: Japanese Prints -- from the Early Masters to the Modern. Tokyo, 1959. Reprinted Charles E. Tuttle.

Influential in the US because of Michener's name. A work of engaging enthusiasm though somewhat unbalanced in Michener's personal judgements (his abrupt dismissal of shunga, for example). Attractively illustrated.

Munsterberg, Hugo: The Japanese Print. Weatherhill, New York and Tokyo, 1982.

Efficient and compact coverage of the field, not omitting contemporary prints and ending with a chapter titled `The Collecting and Care of Japanese Prints'. Good illustrations, a glossary, and a brief but useful bibliography.

Neuer, Roni, Herbert Libertson and Susugu Yoshida: Ukiyo-e: 250 Years of Japanese Art. Milan, 1979 (in Italian), several editions in English, the latest being New York, 1988.

Essentially a coffee-table book rather than a serious study, this nevertheless provides many illustrations of prints and paintings of all types. The poor quality of the color is distinctly off-putting.

Petit, Gaston and Amadio Arboleda: Evolving Techniques in Japanese Woodblock Prints. Kodansha International, Tokyo, New York & San Francisco, 1977.

Well-illustrated discussion of new developments of traditional techniques with examples of the working methods of several modern artists and an appendix on different types of Japanese paper.

Roberts, Laurance P.: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, Tokyo and New York, 1976.

Indispensable for the researcher. Lists thousands of artists, their family names and several go (studio names), giving the Sino-Japanese characters of each, and listing major collections of their works. Not restricted to graphic artists but also includes metal-workers, lacquerers, potters, etc. Weak on 20th century artists.

Stewart, Basil: Subjects Portrayed in Japanese Colour Prints. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., London and New York, 1922. Reprinted by Minkoff, a Swiss publisher, in 1973, and by Dover, New York, in 1979 under the title A Guide to Japanese Prints and Their Subject Matter.

A still useful guide to the collector, first published at a time when it was possible to pick and choose artists and subjects and form a decent collection without having to give up brandy and cigars.

Takahashi, Seiichiro, ed.: Kindai Nihon Hanga Taikei (A Survey of Modern Japanese Prints). 3 volumes, Mainichi Shimbun, Tokyo, 1975-76.

This work has to be listed even though it breaks my rule of listing only works in English. There are brief biographical notices in Japanese of the artists represented, but the major part of these bulky volumes consists of over 800 fine quality color reproductions of prints (mostly woodblocks), many of them full-page, by virtually every artist of the `Creative Print' and the `New Print' movement in Japan. Each volume has an index of the prints in English giving the artist's name, the title, size, medium, and date. Some really surprising and wonderful things are here.

Abe, Yuji, ed.: Modern Japanese Prints: A Contemporary Selection. Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland, VT, and Tokyo, 1971. Reprinted.

Most of these prints, though produced in Japan, tend to be remote from traditional Japanese values and methods.

Addiss, Stephen: Japanese Ghosts & Demons: Art of the Supernatural. George Braziller, New York, 1985.

A survey of this subject, a rich source of material for Japanese graphic artists. The focus is on prints, though painting and netsuke are also touched on. Many illustrations in black-and-white and color.

Beurdeley, Michel, Shinobu Chujo, Motoaki Muto, and Richard Lane: Erotic Art of Japan: The Pillow Poem. Leon Amiel, Hongkong, n.d. (1980s).

Translation into English of excerpts of venereal literature accompanied by discussions, well illustrated with reproductions of shunga prints and paintings.

Bozulich, Richard, ed.: The Go Player's Almanac. The Ishi Press, 1992. Second edition to be published by Kiseido Publishing Company in 2001.

The most comprehensive go encyclopedia to date. Ranges from articles on Chinese myths of origin, authoritative essays on go's history to discussions of the demanding connoisseurship involved in the crafting and selection of game equipment, and current and future challenges posed by go to computer science. Included are two now classic essays on the game: William Pinckard's `Go and the Three Games' and `History and Philosophy of Go'.

Brown, Louise Norton : Block Printing and Book Illustration in Japan . London and New York, 1924. Reprinted.

Now outdated but still a charming and very readable account by a passionate book collector who loved nothing better than plowing through dusty piles of half-forgotten books in Japanese book dealers' storerooms -- this at a time when treasures could be acquired for nickels and dimes over cups of tea.

Chaikin, Nathan: The Sino-Japanese War 1894-1895. Privately printed by Pillet, Martigny, place not shown, 1983.

Well illustrated in black-and-white and color with historical background and identification of each print.

Chibbett, David: The History of Japanese Printing and Book Illustration. Kodansha International, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1972.

Scholarly, a little plodding, well illustrated.

Dunn, Charles J. and Bunzo Torigoe: The Actors' Analects (Yakusha Rongo). University of Tokyo Press Japan, 1969.

A compendium of actors' writings on their professional experiences, techniques, and traditions of stagecraft, and a broad survey of Japanese literature and theatre. Contains numerous line-drawn illustrations.

Evans, Tom, and Mary Anne [Evans]: Shunga. Paddington Press, London and New York, 1975. Reprinted.

A survey of the huge field of venereal or amorous woodblock prints and paintings known as shunga, `spring pictures', through the Edo period. Mostly black-and-white illustrations, the quality not very good, the text not entirely reliable.

French, Cal: Through Closed Doors: Western Influence on Japanese Art 1639-1853. Exhibition catalogue published by Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, 1977.

Carefully researched with many fascinating illustrations.

Hayashi, Yutaka: Igo Hyakka Jiten (Go Encyclopedia). Kin'ensha, Tokyo, 1968. Revised edition, 1983.

This work in Japanese, even though out of date, contains much useful historical information on go, including famous players, terminology, notable games, references to literary works concerning go, and more.

Hillier, Jack: The Art of the Japanese Book. Two volumes, Sotheby's, London, 1987.

This book, with its graceful text and hundreds of beautiful color illustrations, adds flesh and muscle to the bones of the subject treated in Mitchell. The final and crowning work of Hillier's career, this is one of the most attractive art books to have appeared on any subject, I think, during the last fifty years.

Hillier, Jack: The Uninhibited Brush: Japanese Art in the Shijo Style. Hugh M. Moss, London, 1974.

An excellent discussion, with many black-and-white and color illustrations, of printed albums and paintings in the literati style -- the private, scholarly style which flourished at the same time as, but independently of, the popular Ukiyo-e style.

Hillier, Jack and Lawrence Smith: Japanese Prints: 300 Years of Albums and Books. British Museum Publications, London, 1980.

An annotated catalogue of many beautiful and important works in the British Museum, very well and extensively illustrated, mostly in black-and-white, some in color. The introductory essay includes much information on Japanese paper, the book-publishing industry, construction and format of Japanese-style illustrated albums, etc.

Holloway, O. E.: Graphic Art of Japan: the Classical School. Alec Tiranti, London, 1957.

The first in-depth study of graphic art published in albums and picture-books, representing traditions different from the Ukiyo-e. Black-and-white illustrations only.

Illing, Richard: Japanese Erotic Art and the Life of the Courtesan. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1979.

Full-page color illustrations of some works by major artists.

Illing, Richard: Later Japanese Prints. Phaidon, New York, 1978.

Larger than life illustrations of prints of what in the days of Ficke, Strange, et al., was called the `decadent' period, but what is now seen as a period of vigorous striking out in new directions. Includes also some Meiji and 20th-century prints.

Keene, Donald. Mark Van Doren (preface). The Battles of Coxinga: Chikamatsu's Puppet Play, Its Background and Importance. London: Taylor's Foreign Press, 1951.

Keyes, Roger S.: The Art of Surimono. 2 vols., London, 1985.

A richly illustrated and carefully annotated survey of the most important collection of these marvelous privately published woodblock prints, most of them dating from the first half of the 19th century.

Keyes, Roger S. and Keiko Mizushima-Keyes: The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints. Philadelphia, 1973. Reprinted in a soft-cover edition.

The definitive work on this important and long neglected branch of printmaking, scholarly and extremely useful for its reproductions of signatures and notes on artists and actors depicted. Lavishly illustrated.

McCullough, Helen Craig: Yoshitsune: A Fifteenth-Century Japanese Chronicle. University of Tokyo Press and Stanford University Press, 1966.

Meech-Pekarik, Julia: The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization. Weatherhill, New York and Tokyo, 1986.

Scholarly and fascinating discussion of major subjects and artists. Well illustrated in black-and-white and color.

Mitchell, C. H.: The Illustrated Books of the Nanga, Maruyama, Shijo and Other Related Schools of Japan: A Biobibliography. Dawson's Book Shop, Los Angeles, 1972.

The necessary book for the serious student in the field of non-Ukiyo-e illustrated books and albums. As the title suggests, full of biographical and bibliographical information, but with few illustrations.

Papinot, E[dmond]: Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1910/1972.

An excellent book for finding out about daimyo, emperors, famous battles, historically significant geographic sites, and religious figures. Essentially a pre-Meiji book.

Pins, Jacob: The Japanese Pillar Print: Hashira-e. Robert G. Sawers, London, 1982.

After an essay on the development of this unique format the author, an ardent collector, illustrates virtually every example known in Western collections, proceeding chronologically artist by artist.

Statler, Oliver: Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn. Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland, VT, and Tokyo, 1956. Reprinted.

The first and still the indispensable work on the sosaku hanga (`creative print') movement of the 1910s to 1950s. Gives short biographies of most of the important artists with illustrations of their work and useful analytical descriptions of the prints. Statler was in Tokyo just after World War II, came to know many of the artists, and avidly collected information about them along with their work.

Tamba, Tsuneo: Reflections of the Cultures of Yokohama in Days of the Port Opening. Tokyo, 1962.

Well and fully illustrated book on the subject of Yokohama-e -- those fascinating prints showing the arrival of foreigners, with their peculiar ships, clothes, buildings, manners and customs after Perry ended Japan's long isolation.

Whitford, Frank: Japanese Prints and Western Painters. New York, 1977.

After a brief historical and technical introduction the author discusses Japanese artistic influences on Manet, Whistler, Degas, the Impressionists, Van Gogh, the Nabis, etc. A fascinating subject well handled and with interesting illustrations.

The essays in this catalogue are based on an unfinished manuscript by William Pinckard. Just before his untimely death in 1989, Pinckard asked me to arrange for the publication of his essays as well as the prints in his collection. For this purpose he provided me with a preliminary draft of the manuscript. After his death I was also able to obtain the prints from his collection.

As with any preliminary draft, there were many corrections to be made. Moreover, much of Pinckard's research was unfinished and this task became my responsibility, a responsibility I was incapable of fulfilling by myself. I was fortunate, however, to have the services of Kitagawa Akiko who checked almost every sentence, consulted numerous reference works, and made innumerable corrections. I must also thank Mizuguchi Fujio, an authority on woodblock prints with go themes, for the advice on Japanese prints he has given me over the years and for the many suggestion he made related to this catalogue. Finally, I am greatly indebted to Julie Lamont who went over this catalogue again and again with a fine-tooth comb, finding those elusive `needles in the haystack', wrote Chapter 10, and has rewritten, edited, and contributed to a considerable portion of this work.