Episode Details

Taran Casey is very committed to the craft of mokuhanga. Taran is an apprentice carver in Tokyo, Japan. Following his progress on social media over the past year or so, I have found his work fascinating as well as educating. In this episode of The Unfinished Print, I speak with Taran regarding the apprenticeship process under a Japanese teacher, what he has learned in technique the last two years, as well his opinions on the future of mokuhanga in a modern world.

Please follow The Unfinished Print and my print work on Instagram @popular_wheatprints, Twitter @unfinishedprint, or email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com

Notes: notes may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase.

Taran Casey (Gingko Hanga) - Instagram, website, Patreon

Motuharu Asaka - Taran's teacher. Class and workshop information can be found on his website and Instagram.

Kodaira - is a city in western Tokyo with many colleges and universities. It also has an abundance of museums, parks and temples and shrines.

Mokuhankan (David Bull) - Canadian carver and printer located in Asakusa, Tokyo. If you are interested in watching Dave work, he has a Twitch stream updated regularly.

Wood-like Matsumura - is a brick and mortar woodblock print supply shop in Nerima City, Tokyo. They also have an online shop where overseas printmakers can purchase equipment for their work.

Ozu Washi - is a handmade paper shop located in Nihonbashi, Chuo ward, Tokyo. They sell from their shop as well as online.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川 國芳 - 1798-1861) - was a print designer and painter known for his triptychs, yoko-e (horizontal landscape prints), Yokohama-e (prints about the port city of Yokohama), and yakusha-e (actor prints). Considered one of the last of the golden age print designers of ukiyo-e.

The Last Samurai (film) - is a 2003 feature-length film starring Tom Cruise, and Ken Watanabe. Rife with historical inaccuracies it attempts to tell the story of Saigō Takamori (1828-1877) one of the leaders of what would be considered the Meiji Restoration. The film describes the attempt at restoring power to the Emperor and Takamori's death for this cause.

The David Bull carving Taran is speaking about is the very popular YouTube full stream woodblock carving from start to finish, of a lithographic print originally by Ichijō Narumi (1877-1911), called At The Hotspring (1906). It can be seen in its entirety on YouTube here and can be purchased, here.

Komura Settai (1887-1940) - an artist who painted, and illustrated many things from books to woodblock prints, to kabuki stage sets. Taran carved and printed Settai's Osen Kasa.

Shodō - is Japanese calligraphy

tamari (溜まり) - is the pooling of ink between the carved lines of your woodblock. This is exposed when testing your carving but can be fixed by either recarving the part of the block causing tamari or altering the amount of ink or water being used.

Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎, 17