Michihamono Japanese Woodblock Printmaking Kit – Premium

Explore mokuhanga with the Premium kit

The Michihamono Premium Japanese Woodblock Printmaking Kit combines carving tools and printing materials for making your own woodblock prints. It includes seven WOODY tools and a Sosaku Sumi baren with a bamboo sheath. These are the main upgrades over the Standard kit, giving you two additional carving profiles and a baren suited to fine lines and detailed printing.

Contents of the Premium set

• Seven WOODY tools: flat chisel, skew knife, 3 mm, 6 mm and 9 mm U-gouges, 3 mm V-gouge and 7.5 mm round-edged flat chisel.
• Blade caps for the carving tools and a Sosaku Sumi baren.
• Two 15 mm Hake brushes, two carrying brushes, two plastic trays and a paint set.
• Shina plywood block, non-slip mat, A4 tracing paper and A6 carbon paper.
• Five postcard-size printing sheets and original Japanese instruction text supervised by Hikosaka Woodblock Studio.

Choose a profile for each part of the design

Use the narrower gouges for small spaces and marks, then change to a broader profile as the area you need to remove increases. Having several widths in the same set makes it easier to explore how each cut affects the printed image. The round-edged flat chisel adds another option for clearing and shaping alongside the knife, flat chisel and gouges.

For a first print, keep the drawing simple and leave generous space around the main motif. Transfer the design, carve in controlled stages and prepare colour in the included trays. Print a trial impression before deciding whether to deepen a cut or adjust the colour application. The five supplied sheets give you a starting quantity for trying the process.

Printing and care

The baren lets you print by hand, with pressure applied across the back of the paper. Follow the included guidance and store the tools with their caps fitted between sessions. This listing is the Premium version; compare both options on the Japanese Woodblock Printmaking Kit page.