Posted by hess on June 07, 1999 at 19:49:19:
In Reply to: Takamizawa prints of Ando Hiroshige posted by Don Burch on May 07, 1999 at 17:33:39:
: Any information of regarding Mokubansha Takamizawa prints
: of Ando Hiroshige would be appreciated. Thanks
The publisher Takamizawa specialized in reproduction prints. The book of small sized prints (about 4" by 6") was amongst the most common. The majority of these were produced after WWII primarily between 1951-1965 to profit from the burgeoning Western tourist business in Japan. Takamizawa began publishing these Hiroshige Tokaido Road series print "album" books around 1925 but demand was limited and production numbers were low.
The printing quality of the earlier prints is excellent, but after WWII as demand increased Takamizawa began to crank out their work resulting in lesser quality.
The prices on ebay for these "albums" has been steadily dropping as more and more of them surface on the market.