Hidehiko Gotou

Hidehiko Gotou is a Japanese printmaker and master baren maker born in Kokura, Fukuoka prefecture in 1953, who occupies a singular position in the world of contemporary mokuhanga as both a skilled artist and one of the last remaining masters of traditional baren construction. From his studio KIKUHIDE in Oiso, Kanagawa prefecture, he creates woodblock prints and crafts the essential hand-held printing tools that are central to the mokuhanga process.

Gotou's path to his dual mastery was shaped by an unconventional career trajectory. He initially served in the Japan Self-Defense Forces as a communications engineer before finding his vocation in printmaking and craft. After college, where he studied wood sculpture, he apprenticed under Kikuo Gosho, a printmaker, and Matashiro Uchikawa, an ukiyo-e printer, learning both the art of woodblock printing and the craft of baren making. In 1979, he established his baren studio KIKUHIDE, dedicating himself to the preservation and advancement of this endangered craft.

The traditional hon-baren that Gotou creates is a complex instrument composed of a twisted bamboo coil core, multiple layers of fine washi paper glued and lacquered together for the backing, and an outer sheath of bamboo bark. Using traditional methods, it can take Gotou up to six months to complete a single baren. His instruments are regarded as among the finest made today. The baren is far more than a simple tool -- it is the medium through which the printer's skill, pressure, and intention are transmitted to the paper, and variations in construction profoundly affect the quality of the resulting print.

As a printmaker in his own right, Gotou has exhibited widely across Japan and Central Europe, winning important prizes for his distinctive prints. In 1989, he was named Most Promising New Artist in a major print exhibition held in Tokyo, also receiving its Grand Prize. He has demonstrated baren making and printing at International Mokuhanga Conferences, including IMC 2017 Hawaii, where he conducted a demonstration on baren construction. His relationship with American printmaker Andrew Stone through the Florence Baren Project has helped bring his craft to wider international attention.