Ruby Mc Evoy 

This thesis will analyse Japanese woodblock printing during the time the Sakoku policy was in place and after the policy was lifted to see if international trading had an impact on it.
Woodblock printing is a form of creating images by cutting out pictures on blocks on wood and using ink to print them onto paper. It was introduced to Japan in the 8th century by Buddhist missionaries and was originally used in religious iconography and writings. It then grew to become one of the most famous art forms in Japan and, prior to the introduction of photography, one of the most effective ways to advertise and spread information.
The Sakoku isolation policy, a government edict brought around in 1639 by the Japanese bakufu government, severely limited Japan’s contact with the rest of the world until 1854. It was then that the Perry Convention was signed, and Japan’s borders officially reopened.
This lack of outside influence due to limited international trading would not have allowed Japanese woodblock printing to evolve the same way European art forms were. When the Sakoku isolation was lifted and Japanese print artists had access to Western art and new materials, was there a change to the process of woodblock printing?
Focusing on the process of making a woodblock print, materials used and methods of printing, and the themes, content, and styles of the print this thesis will explore if any impact occurred to Japanese woodblock printing as a result of the reopening of Japan after this extended isolation period.