Kappazuri

Sakie of the Hanabishiya

Artist	Urakusai Nagahide

Kappazuri, also known as kappa-zuri, kappazuri-e, and as katagamizuri-e, are Japanese prints printed in a single color (usually black) from woodblocks and then colored by stenciling. Prints produced entirely by stenciling, without woodblocks, are also called kappazuri. Kappazuri may be identified by the presence of visible brushstrokes, unevenness of color, pooling of ink at the margins of the stencil cutouts, and gaps or overlaps between colored areas and black outlines.

Although also produced in Edo (Tokyo), Kappazuri are more closely associated with prints from Osaka and Kyoto. The most prolific designer of Kappazuri was Urakusai Nagahide, and the most abundant examples are his depictions of the annual costume parade in the Gion district of Kyoto.

References

• Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192114471; OCLC 5246796
• Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei. ISBN 9789074822657; OCLC 61666175