Moku Hanga (木版画)

Japanese woodblock printing, called moku hanga (木版画), began in the 11th century in Japan as a way for Buddhists to record sutras and mandalas. Mass production was not possible until a movable-type press was brought back from Korea in the last 1500s. The first secular and mass-produced print was the Setsuyōshū (節用集), a Chinese-Japanese dictionary.

From this, not only was literature made, but art. The first type was Sumizuri-e (墨摺り絵), or "ink-printed pictures". These pieces were made by drawing an image, laying a piece of wood over the image, and cutting the wood into the shape of the picture. This wood piece would become the print, and after applying ink, the artist could make as many copies of his art as he or she wanted.

Here is an example of sumizuri-e: http://japaneselanguageculturefood.com/graphics/culture/japanese-culture-woodblock-printing.jpg

Later, colored ink would be introduced, some orange, some red, some blue. My favorite is aizuri-e (藍摺り絵), or "indigo-printed pictures".

Here is my favorite aizuri-e piece: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/White_Falcon_in_a_pine_tree%2C_woodblock_print_by_Sawa_Sekky%C3%B4%2C_13.5_x_7.75_inches.jpg

Eventually, moku hanga began a whole new genre of visual art, called Ukiyo-e (浮世絵), which literally means "pictures of the floating world", because artists would normally depict the vivid natural landscapes of Japan. The most famous is "Kanagawa Oki Nami Ura" (神奈川沖浪裏,) or "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai from his series 26 Views of Mt. Fuji.

You can probably recognize it immediately: http://math-art.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/the_great_wave_off_kanagawa-small.jpg