Innocence Ukiyo Eki Print / Innocence Ukiyo_e

[[SECTION: Overview]]

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the film’s release. GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: “INNOCENCE”

finally becomes its first-ever Ukiyo-e woodblock print, releasing worldwide in limited quantities!

The sequel to Japan’s world-renowned feature-length anime “GHOST IN THE SHELL,” originally released in 1995—“INNOCENCE,” released in 2004—will be released worldwide simultaneously as an Ukiyo-e woodblock print from 12:00 PM Japan time on Saturday, March 23.

Click here to purchase

[[SECTION: ■“INNOCENCE” celebrates its 20th anniversary—its first Ukiyo-e woodblock print]]

The film “INNOCENCE” is set in the year 2032—a world where people have become cyberized and digital communication through networks is possible without speaking or even typing on a computer terminal, while mechanization of the body has also advanced, and humans, cyborgs, and robots coexist.

Following the Ukiyo-e releases of the 1995 film “GHOST IN THE SHELL” and the latest work “Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045,” “INNOCENCE” now appears for the first time as an Ukiyo-e woodblock print.

[[SECTION: ■About producing this Ukiyo-e woodblock print]]

Ukiyo-e is a traditional craft that represents Japan. However, the entire industry is now in crisis, and the number of artisans across Japan who have inherited this traditional technique that has continued since the Edo period has dwindled to only a few dozen.

While efforts are also being made to train the next generation, it is a fact that daily production volume—including raw materials—continues to shrink, and the number of craftsmen is steadily decreasing.

Together with the active craftsmen (artists, carvers, and printers) who are trying to continue passing this ukiyo-e woodblock technique on to future generations, we aim to introduce the appeal of ukiyo-e from a new angle to people around the world by combining traditional techniques with “INNOCENCE.” And without letting this culture that Japan is proud of fade away, we will contribute to its continued growth and development.

We want to deliver it to you—the essence of Japanese traditional crafts.

[[SECTION: ■Highlights of this work]]

・Why we chose the “android,” rather than the protagonist “Batou” or the iconic character “Motoko Kusanagi,” as the motif for this Ukiyo-e design

The film “INNOCENCE” is a story whose main thread is the investigation of a series of killings caused by a companion-type female android, “Type 2052 Hadaly,” going out of control. Through that incident, the relationships between “human” and “doll,” and between “soul” and “body,” are depicted from a philosophical perspective. This cut of the android, which appears in the scene with the medical examiner Haraway—where particularly memorable dialogue unfolds—is truly one of the film’s most symbolic moments, so we adopted it as the motif for the “INNOCENCE” Ukiyo-e.

Please enjoy the work’s universal philosophical core through this ukiyo-e print, recreated down to the finest details by the delicate handiwork of craftsmen.

・A “floating” style frame presentation

For this work, we used a “floating” framing method that creates space above, below, left, right, and in front of the piece. In the scene mentioned earlier, many androids are sealed with preservative fluid and suspended for autopsy. We felt that floating framing not only evokes that kind of scene, but is also the most effective specification for expressing dolls that are “empty,” without a soul.

[[SECTION: ■Two versions: the standard framed edition and a special artist-collaboration framed edition]]

Standard Framed Edition

Click here to purchase

Special Framed Edition

Click here to purchase

This Ukiyo-e will also be released as a special artist-collaboration framed edition, limited to 30 copies worldwide.
Sculptor Tomoichi Fujita created the art frame “lattice -格子-” specifically for this work.

[[SECTION: ■About “lattice -格子-”]]

“Ghost in The Shell” and “INNOCENCE” are films I’ve loved, so I honestly wanted to create a framed artwork. At the same time, I’ve made various framed works in the past, but I also wanted to try a different kind of expression. The form of shrines, something I’ve continued to express, was something I wanted to incorporate into this frame. When I thought about what kind of shrine it should be, I recalled the festival scene that appears in “INNOCENCE,” where floats parade through the streets. The structure of the temple there feels very Chinese, with flamboyantly upturned eaves. I wanted to use that as one motif. Because roof ornaments and such are colorful in places, I thought it would be interesting if I could make those elements pop with crisp contrast in acrylic colors.

Another thing expressed within the frame is a lattice pattern—an Asian pattern motif. In the film, there are these Asian lattice patterns scattered symbolically throughout the scenery, and they’re depicted as if they’re mixed with European Gothic architecture. I’m not sure if the setting is Hong Kong, but that chaotic, intermingled landscape is very interesting, and I tried to sprinkle that into the frame.

[[SECTION: ■Artisan Introduction]]

[Carver - Kayoko Suga]

After graduating from high school, she applied to the artisan apprenticeship program of the Takumi Training Support Project in Arakawa Ward, Tokyo, and after seven years of training as an Edo woodblock engraver, she became independent. Currently, as one of the few female traditional craftsmen certified by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, she contributes to passing on the culture of ukiyo-e woodblock prints through outstanding skill.

2003 (Heisei 15): Demonstration at the Edo-Tokyo Museum “Oedo 808 Towns Exhibition”

2005 (Heisei 17): Demonstration at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi “Exhibition commemorating the completion of 100 Famous Views of Edo”

2008 (Heisei 20): Demonstration at the Edo-Tokyo Museum “Hokusai Manga Exhibition” / Member of the Ukiyo-e Woodblock Carving and Printing Techniques Preservation Association / Member of the Tokyo Traditional Woodblock Printing Crafts Cooperative

[Printer – Takuya Okada]

Born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1983.

After graduating from high school, he studied Buddhist statue carving at the Kyoto Traditional Crafts College (current name). After graduating, he trained as a printer at Watanabe Woodblock.

Became independent in 2012.

With approximately eight years of experience, he has developed a high level of skill as a printer.

Watanabe Woodblock is a shin-hanga publisher known for artists such as Hasui Kawase, and he has mastered many of the bokashi (gradation) and kasuri (faded/softened) techniques used in shin-hanga. In this work, the printing technique for scattering and fixing gold and platinum was proposed by him. He is a new-generation printer who actively takes on new techniques in addition to traditional ones.

An artisan certified under the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Selected Conservation Techniques for Intangible Cultural Properties.

・Member, Tokyo Traditional Woodblock Printing Crafts Cooperative

[Calligrapher - Ryoko Fujiura]

[Sculptor – Tomoichi Fujita]

Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1976

Graduated from Hida International Crafts Academy, Woodworking Department

◆Awards
Selected for the 24th Okamoto Taro Contemporary Art Award Exhibition

◆Exhibitions
2015 Group Exhibition “TENGAI2.0” (curated by Naoki Tenmyouya) (Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery, Tokyo)
2016 Solo Exhibition “Stories Born from Wood - Collaboration between contemporary artist Tomoichi Fujita and collection artists -” (Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art)
2017 Solo Exhibition “Various Forms of Dignity” (Chiba Bank Himawari Gallery (special exhibition), Tokyo)
Group Exhibition “Mitsukoshi Art 110th Anniversary -HOPES- Next-Generation 100 Selection” (Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi)
2018 Solo Exhibition “Castle Man” (Gallery Maruhi (special exhibition), Tokyo)
2019 Solo Exhibition “Praise on the Desk” (Gallery MUMON, Tokyo)
Group Exhibition “Break Before Dawn - Next-Generation Artists -” (Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery, Tokyo)
2020 Solo Exhibition “Fusokoku” (Nihonbashi Takashimaya Art Gallery X)
2021 Group Exhibition: 24th Okamoto Taro Contemporary Art Award Exhibition (Kawasaki City Okamoto Taro Museum of Art)

2023 Solo Exhibition “NEO TOKYO” (Nihonbashi Takashimaya Art Gallery X / Osaka Takashimaya Gallery NEXT)

◆Information
The country where I was born and raised—Japan.

Before looking overseas, I want to know Japan more deeply, so I visit shrines and temples across Japan and traditional Japanese architecture.

As I travel to various places again, I have questions that I feel.
They are: throughout history, how have shrines and temples changed to match their eras? How have architectural styles developed in response to science and other civilizations that Japan has embraced? How have people faced religions such as Buddhism and Shinto, believed in them, and how have rulers used religion as a symbol of authority to grasp the hearts of the people?

I make my works by reconstructing expressions that weave together traditional architecture and historical phenomena, using modern materials and craft techniques, as my answers to these questions.