Hamonshu

Hamonshū: The Japanese Book of Wave and Ripple Designs
The Complete Three Volumes by Mori Yūzan, Restored, with an Introduction and Translations

Breakers, whirlpools, swells, ripples, spray and foam: Hamonshū is a book of water and nothing else. The Kyoto painter Mori Yūzan drew it for the craftsmen of Meiji Japan, and it was printed from hand-carved woodblocks by Unsōdō, a publisher that still prints by hand from woodblocks today. The three volumes first appeared between 1899 and 1901 and were reissued in 1903, when Japanese metalwork, lacquer, ceramics and textiles were prized across Europe and America.

More than a century later, its waves remain one of the richest sources of traditional Japanese water motifs. Every design is clear, confident line art, ready to be traced, enlarged, carved or dyed.

Inside this edition:

• All three volumes in one book, complete and in their original order, with every plate numbered for easy reference.
• Restored plates: every page was cleaned by hand, removing stains, foxing and the original ruled frames, and faded lines were brought back without redrawing the designs.
• Plates printed in black on heavy 70 lb white paper, like the original woodblock edition, and sturdy enough for tracing and everyday studio use.
• A new introduction on Mori Yūzan, the Mori school of painters, the Unsōdō publishing house and the place of waves in Japanese art.
• Translations of the Japanese and Chinese texts, including the postscript by the painter Tomioka Tessai, plus a list of plates, a glossary and further reading.
• Public-domain designs, free to copy, adapt and use in your own work, commercial or not.

For tattoo artists working in the irezumi tradition, surface and textile designers, illustrators, woodworkers and metalsmiths, and anyone who loves Japanese art.