Rankafu: Japanese Woodblock Prints of Orchids / Seigensha

A 1946 shin-hanga woodblock print album commissioned to preserve a Kyoto industrialist's prized orchid collection is reproduced here in full, all 104 plates, alongside essays that trace its botanical, technical, and art historical significance. The man behind it, Kaga Shotaro, also helped found what became Nikka Whisky and built the villa now known as the "Palace of Beauty."