Interest

Doraemon Gets 4th Limited Edition Ukyio-e Print

Anime News Network's merchandise coverage sponsored by Tokyo Otaku Mode.

Anime and manga series have brought new life to ukiyo-e (woodblock) art prints and traditional Japanese paper-making. Subjects have included the characters of Eureka 7, Ghost in the Shell, Lupin the Third, Dragon Ball, the works of Leiji Matsumoto, and even voice actress Sumire Uesaka. Doraemon is the trend's latest subject, receiving his fourth ukiyo-e print in as many years.

The piece is based on famed ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Kanbara print from the The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō series. The Doraemon version was created using techniques past down since the Edo period. Pre-orders open on October 6 and will ship in December. Only 300 prints will be made and each retails for 30,960 yen (US$274).

Previous Doraemon ukiyo-e prints were created in limited quantities in 2014, 2015 and earlier this year. The first print showed the children's anime's characters in Utagawa Hiroshige's Suruga-chō from the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo art series. The second print depicts Hokusai's Hodogaya on the Tokaido Highway from the Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji series. The third print, revealed in January, shows the characters in one of, if not Hokusai's most iconic work, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

The video below shows the creation process for the second print.

Company Collab Japan focuses specifically on bringing awareness to classic Japanese artworks through crossover appeal. The company has previously worked with bujinga artists to draw pop-culture heroes and villains. Traditionally, bujinga were portraits of samurai-era warriors, but Collab Japan offers prints of Marvel's Iron-Man, Gō Nagai's Devilman, and Great Mazinger.

Source: Comic Natalie