Narukami II (ed. 4/15)

A woodblock print from Takahashi Hiromitsu's Narukami II series, edition of fifteen impressions. The play Narukami belongs to the kabuki jūhachiban and centers on the ascetic priest Narukami, who traps a rain dragon in a waterfall until seduced into releasing it by a noblewoman sent from the court. This impression, the fourth in the edition, would have been printed by hand from the same set of carved blocks used for all fifteen impressions, with registration maintained across the [washi](/glossary/washi) printing support. In a limited edition of this scale, each impression reflects careful hand-printing rather than mechanical reproduction, and minor variations in ink pressure or pigment saturation between impressions are characteristic. The woodblock medium, distinct from Takahashi's [kappazuri](/glossary/kappazuri) stencil work, permits a broader range of surface effects including the subtle texture of carved hinoki or shina plywood transferred to dampened washi.