Aizuri: Literally, "blue printing"; a later artistic effect in which the colour blue (typically the newly introduced imported Prussian blue, also called Berlin blue - hence its Japanese name of berorin burau - which was a brighter and longer-lasting pigment than the fugitive native vegetable blue) predominates. Introduced in part as a response to sumptuary laws which limited the number of colours that could be used in a print, it also was commercially successful, in part because it became fashionable because of the Japanese fascination with new things. Hence aizuri-e, pictures in this technique.
Beni-e: Literally, "pink pictures"; hand-coloured prints using a pink ink produced from the safflower (benibana); most common in the period 1720-40.
Benigirai-e: Literally, "pink-hating pictures"; prints using a muted colour scheme, most common in the 1780's - 1790's.
Benizuri-e: Literally, "pink printed pictures". Benizuri was an early technique for mass-producing colour woodblock prints, reputedly developed in about 1745. It initially used two colour blocks: a light green, and a light red, in imitation of the simple red and green colour scheme of the hand-coloured tan-e prints. Later, a third block and colour, usually yellow, was added. Hence benizuri-e, pictures in this technique; most common in the period 1745-55, with the third colour appearing in the 1750's.
Ishizuri-e: Literally, "stone-printed picture"; a print using white lines on a black ground, in imitation of stone rubbings.
Kappazuri-e: Literally, "stencil printed picture"; the outlines are printed from a block, in the normal manner, and the colour is applied with stencils.
Mizu-e: Literally, "water picture"; woodblock prints printed in a pale vegetable blue, or with a coloured instead of black outlines, from the 1760's; very rare.
Nishiki-e: Literally, "brocade picture"; the final stage of development of woodblock prints printed in multiple colours, first produced in Edo in 1764-65.
Sumizuri-e: Literally, "black-ink printed picture"; sumi is the name for black India ink. Hence sumizuri-e, a print done in black and white, although sometimes one finds shades of grey as well, as in Hokusai's famous and fabulous illustrated book, '100 Views of Fuji'. The first ukiyo-e prints were produced with this technique.
Tan-e: Hand-coloured prints, which used tan (a pigment made from a mixture of red lead, saltpeter and sulphur, which intended to be orange, but turned to blue as it slowly oxidized), and roku (a green pigment produced from ground malachite, which turned black and often ate into the paper as it aged). The earliest coloured prints were produced with this technique.
Urushi-e: Literally, "lacquer pictures", from their use of glue mixed with the black ink which was then burnished after printing, to emulate lacquer; hand-coloured prints which were the next stage stage in the technical development of woodblock prints after tan-e. They used the techniques of laquer-ware, including a number of new colours such as red and yellow, along with gold dust, to produce exquisite hand-coloured prints; most common in the period 1720-40.
