Japanese wood block prints were popularized during the Edo period, with the introduction of Ukiyo-e as an art form. Japanese Ukiyo-e is renowned for its breathtaking depictions of the everyday life of commoners.
Japanese artists embraced the subject matter and made woodblock printing a true art rather than a commercial means of reproduction as it had formerly been. Today, Japanese antique and contemporary woodblock prints, etchings and lithographs are highly collected throughout the world.