A publisher's ownership of the physical woodblocks used to print a given text or image constituted the closest equivalent to a concept of "copyright" that existed at this time.

Woodblock prints such as these were produced in large numbers in 18th- and 19th-century Japan, created by artists, block cutters and printers working independently to the instructions of specialist publishers.

This world was one of transient delights and changing fashions centred on the licensed pleasure districts and popular theatres found in the major cities of Japan.

[1] [2] [3] His series is a work that inspired a number of Western artists, including Vincent van Gogh, to experiment with imitations of Japanese methods.

[4] Elements of Hiroshige's work can be found in Western cinema and comics produced during the 20th-century, particularly The Adventures of Tintin, and they "profoundly influenced" the development of modernism.