Onchi Kōshirō

Koshirô Onchi majored in Western oil painting at the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts, and by 1914 had started a monthly magazine devoted to the poetry and abstract prints entitled Tsakubae(Poems and woodblock Art). During this period he was alone in the production of abstract, nonrepresentational print designs. He became an important member of the Nippon Sosaku Kyokai and devoted his entire life to the concept that woodblock designing was not just a means of multiple production, but was an aftform with its own unique qualities. For Onchi, the art of the woodblock was totally independent of drwoing and painting.