Japan's woodblock printing technology has a long history, but it is said that woodblock prints began to spread to the general public around the time Hishikawa Moronobu produced ukiyo-e in the early 1600s during the Edo period. It was around this time that a division of labor was established between the artist who drew the sketch, the carver who carved the woodblock based on the sketch, and the printer who printed it on paper. Initially, prints were done in a single color of ink, but then they were colored with a brush, and gradually more complex colors were added, resulting in beautiful hand-colored prints called urushi-e or beni-e. In 1765, Suzuki Harunobu developed the nishiki-e style, which made it possible to print in more than 10 colors. Later, Kitagawa Utamaro and Toshusai Sharaku established realistic and precise expression techniques that further advanced ukiyo-e production.
At the end of the Edo period, Katsushika Hokusai and Ando Hiroshige left behind many landscape paintings that made use of the beautiful colors of woodblock prints. Thanks to the techniques of Edo woodblock printing, ukiyo-e became widely distributed and became a representative popular culture of Edo. The techniques are still passed down to this day, and Taito Ward in particular is known as the main production area.