Japanese reproductions

At the start of the 20th century, the first wave of reproductions was published in Japan. During that time, some collectors and publishers started to fear that, because of the large-scale export of Japanese prints to Europe and the United States, there would be none left for Japanese people themselves to admire. And people were also afraid that knowledge of traditional production techniques would disappear.

To prevent this, some publishers started publishing very luxurious reproductions, thus preserving valuable knowledge while also maintaining a steady supply of traditional prints for the Japanese customer. Isn’t it a beautiful thing, to be misled?