Hanga

Embossing Prints (30)

Embossing (karazuri) technique in Japanese woodblock prints, where uninked blocks are pressed into dampened paper to create raised, three-dimensional textures. Used to render snow, feathers, wave crests, and fabric patterns, embossing adds tactile richness to printed images.

Artists Known for Embossing

Demon in Disguise as an Old Woman Fleeing with a Severed Arm (Rōba kiwan o mochisaru zu), from the series New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts (Shinkei sanjūroku kaisen) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Demon in Disguise as an Old Woman Fleeing with a Severed Arm (Rōba kiwan o mochisaru zu), from the series New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts (Shinkei sanjūroku kaisen)

1889

Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink, color and gauffrage on paper

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Musashibō Benkei in The Subscription List (Kanjinchō) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Musashibō Benkei in The Subscription List (Kanjinchō)

Meiji period, datable to 1890

Center panel from a woodblock print (nishiki-e) triptych; ink, color, gauffrage, and metallic pigment on paper

Taira no Kiyomori Holding Back the Sun, from the series Mirror of Famous Generals of Japan (Dai Nippon meishō kagami) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Taira no Kiyomori Holding Back the Sun, from the series Mirror of Famous Generals of Japan (Dai Nippon meishō kagami)

Meiji period, circa 1878-1882

Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink, color and gauffrage ("blind" printing) on paper

Untitled (inuzuka-taisui) by Inuzuka Taisui

Untitled (inuzuka-taisui)

Woodblock print

Frosty Morn by Ansei Uchima

Frosty Morn

1962

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with embossing

Sign (Kizashi) (artist’s proof) by Chizuko Yoshida

Sign (Kizashi) (artist’s proof)

1970

Color woodblock print with embossing

Chorus by Amano Kazumi

Chorus

1967

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with embossing

Color-ring (Fragment) D by Amano Kazumi

Color-ring (Fragment) D

1968

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Fabrication (Inclusion) by Amano Kazumi

Fabrication (Inclusion)

1966

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Join by Amano Kazumi

Join

June 1962

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

From Gauge (Return) by Amano Kazumi

From Gauge (Return)

1969

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Moral (Endurance) by Amano Kazumi

Moral (Endurance)

1963

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Inside and Outside (Round) A by Amano Kazumi

Inside and Outside (Round) A

1968

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with embossing

Low Tide at Susaki - A Set of Five (Shiohi goban no uchi) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Low Tide at Susaki - A Set of Five (Shiohi goban no uchi)

c. 1828-30

Color woodblock prints; shikishiban pentaptych, surimono

Ensei by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Ensei

c. 1828–30

Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper

Memorial Portraits of  Iwai Hanshirō VI and Bandō Mitsugorō III by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Memorial Portraits of Iwai Hanshirō VI and Bandō Mitsugorō III

after 1836

Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper

Horiagete by Hiratsuka Un'ichi

Horiagete

1954

Woodblock print

Cell - 4 by Maki Haku

Cell - 4

1966

Woodblock print, color on embossed paper

65 - 7 by Maki Haku

65 - 7

1965

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

63 - B by Maki Haku

63 - B

1963

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

May - 2 by Maki Haku

May - 2

early 1960s

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Objet No. 2 by Onchi Koshiro

Objet No. 2

1954

Woodblock and object print

Work - Mu-2 by Maki Haku

Work - Mu-2

1961

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Which One Is Reflected? by Fumiko Oyama

Which One Is Reflected?

どちらが映る?

2025

Woodcut with embossing

Poem - 12 by Maki Haku

Poem - 12

1966

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Poem 70 - 28 (Word) by Maki Haku

Poem 70 - 28 (Word)

1970

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Poem 72 - 51 (Cooling Fan) by Maki Haku

Poem 72 - 51 (Cooling Fan)

1972

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Poem - 11 by Maki Haku

Poem - 11

1971

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Work 74-57 (Sun-B) by Maki Haku

Work 74-57 (Sun-B)

c. 1974

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Bendbo by Hiroyuki Tajima

Bendbo

1963

Woodblock print, ink and color on embossed paper

Related Subjects

Frequently Asked Questions

Embossing (karazuri) technique in Japanese woodblock prints, where uninked blocks are pressed into dampened paper to create raised, three-dimensional textures. Used to render snow, feathers, wave crests, and fabric patterns, embossing adds tactile richness to printed images.

Maki Haku, Amano Kazumi, and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi are among the artists most associated with embossing in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.

Hanga currently catalogues 30 prints tagged with embossing, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.