1:Title 2:Aratame-in or approval seal Arateme-in seal was applied when the print went through the sensorship and this indicates approximately when the artwork was printed 3:Rakkan or Artist's signature and seal This image is a rakkan of Kuniyoshi 4:Hanmoto-in or Publisher's seal This seal indicates who is the publisher of the ukiyo-e.

Abuna-e Abunae means erotic or suggestive pictures. Derived from the word "abunai " meaning dangerous or risque. More explicit works of art are called shunga. Abuna-e capture glimpses of nude or partially nude females involved in everyday activities such as bathing, washing their hair, enjoying the cool of the evening, or putting on makeup. Often a sudden gust of wind, small child, or even an animal such as a monkey or cat has playfully pulled the woman's robes apart revealing her legs, thighs, or breasts. It is thought that abuna-e were created in 1772, after the government banned more explicit erotica, and the peak of their popularity, around the middle of the 18c, supports this assumption. Because their message is implicit, some people consider abuna-e more truly erotic than the explicitly sexual shunga. Many were designed by woodblock print artists Ishikawa Toyonobu (1711-85), Torii Kiyomitsu (1735-85), and Kiyohiro (fl.1737-76) as beni-e  prints. Other artists such as Suzuki Harunobu (1724-70), Isoda Koryuusai (fl.c.1764-880), and Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) produced abuna-e as multi-colored nishiki-e. Most ukiyo-e designers of bijinga (pictures of beauties) also produced abuna-e. Gofun-zuri The white pigment used for the white face powder of figures in a woodblock print ukiyo-e. The powder was made from powdered oyster shells and was applied to the block and printed in the same way as other colors. As time passes, the white pigment tarnishes to black, giving the print a very distinctive appearance. Gofun pigment is sometimes mixed with nikawa water (a transparent of semi-transparent animal glue used as a binder) and splashed onto the artwork in order to express falling snow. Kara-zuri The printing technique that we commonly refer to as "gauffrage" is most easily described simply as "embossing." It also goes by the names of "blind printing, "goffer," or in Japanese, "karazuri," which means literally "empty printing." The Japanese name is actually very apropos, since it describes the printing process in literal terms, that is, done without ink, or "empty."  Give some moisture to the woodblock, place the paper and rub to create emboss. "Gauffrage" gives three-dimensionality or dept to prints. Kira-zuri In a technique known as kirazuri, the printing block is coated with paste nori or animal glue called nikawa and printed onto the paper. Mica (ummo or kira) is then sprinkled over the glue before it dries. Sometimes a red or grey layer is printed before applying the mica, producing a red or grey sheen. The use of this technique is often seen with the artworks created circa 1789 - 1801. Sharaku and Utamaro often used mica printing for their artworks. Sometimes shell powder was used as substitute of mica powder. Muzen-zuri Musen-zuri, literally means printing with no outline, is the printing technique to create graphic patterns by colors without any outline. Since bold outline is one of the distinctive features of ukiyo-e, the printed images without such outlines give unique visual effects. Many ukiyo-e artists including Shigemasa and Utamaro used this technique for their works. This technique is highly noted for its outstanding requirements for artisanship in engraving and printing.  Ootsu-e Also known as oiwake-e , derived from place names on the outskirts of Ootsu. Small paintings produced for travelers and pilgrims to Miidera by artists in 0otsu, the well frequented post town on the Toukaidou, at the tip of Lake Biwa  in Oumi province (present-day Shiga prefecture), not far from Kyoto. The works are unsigned and undated. Demon Impersonating a Nenbutsu Reciter Oni-no-nenbutsu, Catfish and Gourd Hyoutannamazu, Retainer Carrying Pike in Daimyou Processions Yakko yarimochi  and Dancing Girl with Wisteria Fujimusume are among the subjects of ootsu-e. By the 1700's popular rather than religious subjects including the above as well as kabuki actors came to predominate. Although often possessed of great charm and the verve of rapidly brushed Indian ink outlines (and from the late Edo period sometimes poetic inscriptions) with bright splashes of unmodulated mineral pigments (orange, green, yellow), stock images were increasingly repeated in great numbers and are extant today in nearly identical versions. Often used as protective amulets gofu pasted up, for example, in kitchens and farm buildings. Popular throughout the country, ukiyoe artists in Edo, such as Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) and Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) in the early 19c, incorporated the distinctive designs into several woodblock print series. This may account for the legendary accounts, which link the origins of the type to Iwasa Matabee (1578-1650) and early ukiyo-e. Continued to be produced through the Meiji period (1868-1912). Rakkan This image is a rakkan of Kunisada. Satori-e A picture drawn for the purpose of inducing a sudden insight or "enlightenment". A caricature often (fuushiga), with oblique criticisms aimed at current events or the government. Also called hanji-e. Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) is thought to have created the first situational caricatures around 1841, and these were called satori-e or "enlightenment pictures". Later pupils who studied with him, as for example Utagawa Yoshitora (fl. early 19c) and Utagawa Yoshikazu (fl.c.1848-68), also produced satori-e. Shin-hanga Shin-hanga is a Japanese print of the twentieth century made by the traditional system, centered on the publisher who commissioned designs from artists, then employed professional carvers and printers to make fine prints. Shin-hanga was a kind of renaissance of the traditional style of Japanese (ukiyo-e auction). Shin-hanga means new prints in Japanese. In the Shin-hanga movement, stimulated by the Sosaku Hanga movement and the high appreciation of ukiyoe abroad, the Shin Hanga artists tried to re-discover the tradition of ukiyo-e and to apply Japan’s outstanding woodblock printing skills. This type of prints lasted for 6 years, from 1910 until 1920. The driving force was not a group of artists, but a print publisher, Watanabe Shozaburo, exported the largest part of shin-hanga prints to Europe and America in the 1920s and 1930s (ukiyo-e auction). Shinsui, Hasui and Koka are well known Shin Hanga artists who created numerous numbers of great artworks Shunga A generic term thought to have come into use during the latter half of the 19c for explicitly erotic paintings, prints and illustrations. Shunga was originally thought to be a Chinese derived expression but today this theory is disputed in Japan. The term higa (secret pictures) is considered more refined. Erotic paintings can be seen on sliding door panels in mid-15c handscrolls such as the Koshibagaki-Soushi and Chigo-zoushi. Even earlier, small erotic paintings on warrior helmets appeared in the 13c-14c and in the 15c-16c Otogi-zoshi were illustrated with scenes of priests or nuns making love. Before the late 17c, shunga were exclusively admired by members of the court, military and monastic classes, but the genre gained wide-spread popularity with woodblock examples by artists such as Hishikawa Moronobu (c1618-94). By the 18c, their popularity led to a public ban on erotic prints, although tacit approval of their production was given by the government, allowing the genre to continue and even flourish. Ironically it was during the 18c and 19c that shunga reached their height of popularity. Almost every ukiyo-e artist, with the exception of perhaps Toushuusai Sharaku (ca.1794-5), secretly produced erotic prints during their careers. They did not sign their names, but some can be attributed to individual artists by their styles or the secret names which the artists used. Artists outside the ukiyo-e arena also painted erotic subjects. Tsuzuki-e Tsuzuki-e is a set of ukiyo-e prints with a continuous composition in a large pictorial format. The designs were so skillfully composed that each print was complete in itself, and at the same time kept its continuity with the other sheets. However, some of the late ukiyo-e prints produced in the 19c no longer had this compositional interdependency. The most common styles of tsuzukimono were sets of two or three lengthwise-placed ooban large sheets arranged horizontally. These sheets were called nimaitsuzuki (diptych) and sanmaitsuzuki (triptych) respectively. A set of four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or twelve sheets of the same format-size was also frequently produced. Sometimes three of the six sheets were arranged beneath the other three, or one of the four sheets was placed above the central sheet of the other three. Other varieties of tsuzukimono include the use of chuuban (medium sheets) or hosoban (thin sheets) in addition to the ooban, placed either lengthways or sideways, and arranged either side-by-side or end-to-end. Uchiwa-e Uchiwa-e literally means fan painting. A painting either directly on a fan, uchiwa, or on a round format which could later be attached to one. The earliest examples of uchiwa-e in Japan are paintings from the Kamakura period which were influenced by Chinese Sung and Yuan painting styles. There are fan-shaped paintings extant by Sesshuu (1420-1506) but the genre was popularized much later by Ogata Kourin (1658-1716) and other Rimpa school artists. Throughout the Edo period, uchiwa were block-printed with the faces of famous kabuki actors and beautiful courtesans of the Yoshiwara brothels. Uchiwa-e painted with landscape scenery and bird-and-flower themes became popular in the 19c. The shape of the uchiwa became wider and oval shaped at this time. Edo period uchiwa were used constantly in daily life and therefore few remain, but most of the popular ukiyoe artists of the time painted or designed for the fan format. Yokohama-e Also Yokohama ukiyoe. Late ukiyo-e prints which depicted foreigners, Western buildings and Western customs at the port of Yokohama from the year after its opening in 1859 until the 1880s. The high point of Yokohama-e popularity was 1860-1 when Japanese were extremely curious about foreigners, and during this two-year time period alone over 400 different prints were issued. Yokohama prints were designed by popular print artists living in Edo--artists predominantly from the Utagawa School or Utagawa-ha such as Utagawa Yoshikazu (fl.1850-70), Hiroshige II (1826-69) and Yoshimori (1830-84) -- and published by major Edo houses. Popular subjects include Yokohama city streets, scenes of daily business, portraits of foreigners and genre scenes. After 1861, the popularity of Yokohama prints declined, but the building of the railroad between Shinbashi and Yokohama rekindled interest in the area and there was a second peak from about 1869-71. Yoshiwara Yoshiwara, literally means Good Luck Meadow, was a famous red-light district in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka. To counter this, an order was given by the shogunate to restrict prostitution to designated city districts such as Yoshiwara for Edo, Shinmachi for Osaka and Shimabara for Kyoto. The main reason for establishing these nightless districts was the Tokugawa shogunate's trying to prevent the nouveau riche chonin (townsmen) from political intrigue. Thoughout the Edo period, Yoshiwara had been the biggest socializing place for men.