E-hon

It may be applied in the general sense, or may refer specifically to a type of woodblock printed illustrated volume published in the Edo period (1603–1867).

These were larger books which contained more, and a wider range of material per-issue, but usually fewer pictures (measured on a text-to-images ratio).

Illustrations which were either handpainted or stenciled appear in his Minchō shiken of 1746, based on the successful Chinese Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden of 1679 which was released as a Japanese version, Kaishien gaden, in 1748.

The first large-scale commercial book with full-color printing was Ehon butai ōgi in 1770, with artwork by ukiyo-e artists Katsukawa Shunshō and Ippitsusai Bunchō.

Also published in 1770 was Ehon seirō bijin awase by Suzuki Harunobu which combined hokku poetry with images of courtesans from the Yoshiwara brothel district.

[5] One of the finest ehon works is his 100 Views of Mount Fuji released in 1834–1835 in two volumes by Nishimuraya Yohachi with extremely fine carving by the workshop of Egawa Tomekichi and exquisite grey gradations (bokashi).

The contents of these manuscripts consists mostly of otogi-zōshi which are short narratives concerning war epics, folklore or Shinto and Buddhist legends.

[10] When the amount of commissions from the nobility at these temples declined, the artists left for Kyoto to set up studios and took orders for work, similar to local painters.