Ukiyo-e woodblock printing

浮世絵の木版摺りうきよえのもくはんずり

Craft · Art · Rainy day · Book ahead

Printing a small ukiyo-e from carved blocks with a baren and water-based pigment, one colour at a time, at a studio that still prints editions of Hokusai and Hiroshige by hand. Two hours; you take your print home. Several print shops in Kanda and Asakusa run sessions in English, and the Adachi Institute's studio is the serious one.

How to arrange it: Book two weeks ahead for the studio sessions; the print shops in Jimbocho take walk-ins for short demos.
Price band: ¥¥
Allow: 120 min
Where: Akihabara & Kanda, Asakusa

Where to book it

Asakusa

Mokuhankan

木版館

¥¥ · 60 min · English: yes

Founded by the Canadian master printmaker David Bull, this Asakusa shop and workshop is run by people who print for a living — visitors pull their own print under the eye of working craftspeople, in the space where the shop's real editions are made.

Nihonbashi

Takumi Mokuhanga Kobo

匠木版画工房

¥ · 105 min · English: no

Run by veteran carver Asaka Motoharu, who has spent over 50 years reproducing ukiyo-e woodblocks, this Nihonbashi studio teaches the actual printing side of the craft rather than a souvenir-stand version. Classes are held steps from the old Edo-period paper-trading district, giving visitors a direct link to the block-printing trade that once supplied local publishers.

Named operators, each verified against its official site. We list the booking route and whether English is spoken; hours and prices live on the official site. All operators