Egawa Tomekichi

[1] Hokusai had studied carving as an apprentice and as an exceptional draughtsman, he relied on the woodblock carver to accurately replicate the quality of his line when it came to printing.

In an 1835 letter sent to various publishers, he complained about the standard of cutting in earlier editions of his Manga, Musha-e zukushi, and other books, and urged repeatedly that they employ Egawa Tomechiki of Asakusa in future.

For this reason, if Egawa were to take care of the carving I should also be more motivated and could concentrate better on my own work ... My one concern is to produce a well-made book.

"[4] Previous editions of Hokusai Manga had been well carved but the quality was uneven and varied between work done by the master carver (kashirabori) and that of his assistants (dobori).

Judging from names in the first volume of 100 Views, Egawa ran a workshop of six craftsmen: "Esen", "Bairin", "Wasuke", "Yoshitora", "Hisayuki", and "Yonekichi".