IMC 2024 Echizen submission

Submitted to the juried exhibition at the 2024 International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC) held in Echizen, Japan, this print represents Yamasaki's contribution to the Americas regional showcase. Echizen, a historic papermaking region in Fukui Prefecture, provided a fitting venue given its centuries-old tradition of producing washi suited to traditional printing. As a juried IMC entry, the work was produced using water-based pigments applied with brushes and pressed into washi by hand with a baren—the defining characteristics of mokuhanga that distinguish it from oil-based Western relief printing. Technical features common to contemporary IMC submissions include layered [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations, precise kentō registration across multiple carved blocks, and an application of [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e) color principles to subjects that often range beyond classical genres such as [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e), or [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e). Yamasaki's acceptance across both the 2021 Nara and 2024 Echizen IMC exhibitions places her within the diasporic American mokuhanga community, where practitioners maintain Japanese cultural heritage while extending the medium's contemporary range.