Gihachiro Okuyama1907~1981 奥山儀八郎

OKUYAMA Gihachiro (1907-1981) was a Japanese woodblock print artist from Sagae in Yamagata Prefecture, who worked in both commercial advertising prints and creative (sosaku-hanga) prints, and is regarded as a pioneer of advertising woodblock printing. Drawn to woodblock printing from childhood, he was first selected for the Japan Creative Print Association exhibition in 1928 and was hired the same year as a staff advertising artist for Japan Wool Textile, later producing posters and labels for Nikka Whisky. From 1936 he studied under the ukiyo-e researcher Ishii Kendo, devoting himself to reviving traditional ukiyo-e techniques. He produced numerous series including "100 Aspects of Coffee" and Tokaido landscapes.