Biography
Tomoyo Jinbo (神保朋世) is a contemporary shin-hanga artist whose prints continue the collaborative tradition of publisher-directed woodblock printmaking into the present day. Working within the framework established by early twentieth-century publishers like Watanabe Shozaburo, Jinbo designs prints that are then carved and printed by specialist artisans, preserving the division of labor that distinguishes shin-hanga from the self-printed sosaku-hanga approach.
Jinbo's subjects draw from the classic shin-hanga repertoire — landscapes, seasonal views, and scenes of traditional Japan rendered with the atmospheric delicacy and rich color printing that define the movement. The prints demonstrate a command of the bokashi graduated-color technique and the layered overprinting that give shin-hanga its characteristic luminosity. By continuing to work in this mode at a time when few publishers maintain active stables of designers, carvers, and printers, Jinbo occupies a distinctive position in contemporary Japanese printmaking.
Detailed biographical information — including birth year, formal training, and exhibition history — has not been widely documented in English-language references. Jinbo's prints circulate primarily through specialist dealers and collectors devoted to the ongoing shin-hanga tradition.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇯🇵Japan
- Movement
- Shin-hanga
- Works Indexed
- 10
Frequently Asked Questions
Tomoyo Jinbo (神保朋世) is a contemporary shin-hanga artist whose prints continue the collaborative tradition of publisher-directed woodblock printmaking into the present day. Working within the framework established by early twentieth-century publishers like Watanabe Shozaburo, Jinbo designs prints that are then carved and printed by specialist artisans, preserving the division of labor that distinguishes shin-hanga from the self-printed sosaku-hanga approach.
Tomoyo Jinbo's work was shaped by the Shin-hanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Shin-hanga: ## What is Shin-hanga? Shin-hanga (新版画), literally "new prints," is the early twentieth-century revival of the collaborative Japanese woodblock workshop, organized between roughly 1915 and 1960 by the Tokyo publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885–1962) and a handful of competing houses.
Original prints by Tomoyo Jinbo can be found in collections including Scholten Japanese Art, Japanese Art Open Database, ukiyo-e.org.
Tomoyo Jinbo is a shin-hanga artist whose prints were published by Watanabe Shozaburo or other major shin-hanga publishers. Association with established publishing houses adds significant collector interest. Prices range from $300 for later editions to $10,000 for rare or particularly fine impressions. Most prints sell in the $1,000–$4,000 range. Edition period is crucial: pre-earthquake (before 1923) impressions command the highest prices, followed by inter-war editions, then posthumous reprints.
