Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing in Japan traces back to the in 770 CE. Until the 17th century, such printing was reserved for Buddhist seals and images. Movable type appeared around 1600, but as the Japanese writing system required about 100,000 type pieces, hand-carving text onto woodblocks was more efficient. In Saga Domain, calligrapher Hon'ami Kōetsu and publisher combined printed text and images in an adaptation of "The Tales of Ise" (1608) and other works of literature. During the Kan'ei era (1624–1643) illustrated books of folk tales called ("orange-green books") were the first books mass-produced using woodblock printing. Woodblock imagery continued to evolve as illustrations to the genre of tales of hedonistic urban life in the new capital. The rebuilding of Edo following the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 occasioned a modernization of the city, and the publication of illustrated printed books flourished in the rapidly urbanizing environment.