New forms of printmaking
I'm interested in prints.
More accurately, I've always liked them.
I even do a bit of woodblock printing myself.
Carving wood, printing the block, then carving again.
More often than not, it doesn't turn out as expected.
When you hear "prints," many people might think of ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, sōsaku-hanga, or woodblock prints connected to the Mingei movement.
Of course, I like those styles too.
But what I'm interested in lately are prints that are a bit more free.
Sachiko Kazama, Kurumi Wakaki, Yota Hara.
While their forms of expression and the scale of their works are completely different, I'm drawn to how they use the "printing block" mechanism for their own expression.
Sachiko Kazama
The first time I saw Sachiko Kazama's work, I thought, "Can woodblock prints really do this?"
Shinkansen, Olympics, war, surveillance society.
Her work deals with events from the modern era onwards, but it doesn't end with mere criticism or denunciation.
There's a certain humor, eeriness, and power to it.
While using the old technique of woodblock printing, her expression is very contemporary.
It almost looks as if she's carving up the massive system of modernity itself with her prints.
A large-scale exhibition of her work just started in Hirosaki.
I definitely want to go see it. If you're nearby, please check it out.
Kurumi Wakaki
I learned about Kurumi Wakaki at the special exhibition "The Joy of Making, DIY for Life" (2025) held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
Everyday objects, her own body, household items.
The way she turns anything into a printing block is fascinating.
Prints can sometimes seem like they require special skills.
But looking at Wakaki's work, there's a pleasant feeling that makes you think, "I want to try this too."
It's like an unadorned simplicity or lightness.
The joy of making itself seems to become the artwork.
She is an artist who makes you think that prints might not be something special, but a more accessible form of expression.
Yota Hara
Yota Hara is the youngest of the three, and he creates picture books and books using woodblock and rubber block prints.
At an exhibition I saw in Asagaya in May 2026, a vast number of rubber blocks were spread across the entire venue.
It had an intense energy, as if the act of continuously carving blocks itself was the exhibition.
Hara's charm might be his freshness.
He makes picture books for his friends' children, and even turns the cigarettes he smokes into print artworks, exactly as they are.
He has a lightness in transferring events and interests from his surroundings directly onto blocks.
I think there are still some rough edges, but that incompleteness is what makes it interesting.
His handmade picture books and collaborations with other artists are also appealing.
He's participating in the TOKIO ART BOOK FAIR 2026, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of works he'll create next.
The world imagined from the word "prints" seems to have expanded much further than before.
You could even say photography is a kind of print.
There are prints that observe society like Sachiko Kazama's, and prints that turn daily life into a block like Kurumi Wakaki's. There are also prints that create everything themselves, like Yota Hara's.
Woodblock, rubber block, silkscreen.
The techniques are ancient, but the expressions are constantly being updated.
I'm curious to see what kind of works they will create in the future.