Beginning in 1876 prints were required to carry the full personal name and complete street address of the publisher; this was usually (but not always) carried in a length inscription in the margin of the print. Prior to this time, publishers generally indicated their connection to a print they produced by a small seal (often in the groud of the print) which gave some form of their name.
Publisher’s Names
The names used by publishers, like Japanese names in general, are a complex topic. In addition to the personal name of the owner, publishers usually also used one or two business names, the ya-gō (屋号) and dō-gō (堂号), named for the differing suffixes applied to the business name. Ya means ‘shop’, and dō means ‘firm’, so in meaning they are roughly the same. However, the name before the suffix is not the same for the ya-gō and dō-gō forms; e.g. the publisher Kihei had gō of Sano-ya and Kikaku-dō.
In addition, publishing houses often had a ‘short’ name, used in publisher seals on prints; this was usually created by taking the name of the shop and of the proprietor, from which was formed (often, but not always, by taking the first syllable of each) a shorter name. So, the publisher “Maruya Seibei” was the shop Maru-ya, owned by Seibei; its short name was Marusei. However, the short name often outlived the owner it was originally asociated with.
As mentioned, these short names are often what is given in the publisher seals. For some publishers, sources give short names which do not correspond to either any contraction of the long name, or the characters in the seal. Presumably these short names come from either other seals used by that publisher, or from other contemporary sources, but it beyond the scope of this page to elucidate those.
Kanji
Kanji for personal names are marked with “P:”; for ya-gō with “Y:”; for dō-gō with “D:”, and for short names with “S:”. Kanji whose readings and/or import are unknown are tagged with a “?:”.
Seal Readings
When seal readings are given, following the usual standard, the Chinese reading(s) are in uppercase, and the Japanese in lower. Characters are separated by ‘_’, and alternative readings are given separated by ‘/’.
Table of Publisher’s Seals
| Seal(s) | Personal Name | Ya-gō and Dō-gō | Short name(s) | Kanji | Location | Reference | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Kinnosuke | Daikoku-ya | Kinjirō, Daikin | S:大金 | Tsujiki, Odawara-chō | MFA #11.37637 Ing, #10.25 Dailey, #96 |
The seal reads: TAI/DAI/O_KON/KIN/kana |
 |
Rinnosuke | Ebi-ya Kaiju-dō |
Ebirin | S:海老林 | Horie-chō | Dailey, #154/#208 Lane, 314.2.9 Self, 282.2.10 |
The seal reads: KAI/umi_RŌ/o_RIN/JI/shige/hayashi/mori; the first two combined can be read ‘ebi’ |
 |
Sōjirō | Ki-ya | Kiso | ?:焦喰四 S:木実梓 |
Ing, #17.2 MFA #00.1395-7 |
The seal reads: SHŌ/ko/ji_kura/ku_SHI/yo MOKU/ki_SO/mune_SHI; the final SHI means “published by” | |
 |
Morimoto Junsaburō | Morimoto | P:森本 順三郎 | Asakusa-ku Kawara-chō ni banchi | The seal reads: mori_HON/moto. | ||
 |
Unidentified | Daikyō-dō | Ohashi Daikyō |
S:大橋 | Ing, #22.47, #22.48 | The seal reads: TAI/DAI/O_KYŌ/hashiThe two different short names are different readings of the characters in the seal. | |
 |
Sawa Kyūjirō Ōmiya Kyūsuke |
Kinkyū | S:近久 | MFA #11.37760, MFA #11.35910 | The seal reads: KIN/KON/chika_KYŪ/KU/hisaThe second name listed might be include ya-gō, but without the kan-ji it is impossible to be sure. The status of the ‘Kyūsuke’ is unknown. | ||
 |
Tomigorō | Sano-ya Kinsei-dō |
D:錦盛堂 | MFA #11.37717 | The seal reads: KIN/nishiki_SHŌ/SEI/JŌ/saka/mo_DŌ/-dō | ||
 |
Masakichi | Seibun-dō or Shōbun-dō | D:正文堂 | Ing, #8.1, #12 MFA #11.16634 |
The seal reads: SEI/SHŌ/masa/tada_BUN/MON/fumi_DŌDifferent source give different readings for the dō-gō. | ||
 |
Tōbei | Yamaguchi-ya Kinkō-dō |
Yamaguchi | S:山口 | Bakuro-chō, Motohama-chō | Dailey, #129/#223 Lane, 316.3.23 Self, 287.1.2 |
The seal reads: SAN/yama_Kō/KU/guchi/aki |
References
- Dailey: Merlin C. Dailey, David Stansbury, “Utagawa Kuniyoshi: An Exhibition of the Work of Utagawa Kuniyoshi Based on the Raymond A. Bidwell Collection of Japanese Prints at the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts“, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, 1980 – Numbers refer to a publisher number in the list of Kuniyoshi’s publishers in the back of the Catalog
- Ing: Eric van den Ing, Robert Schaap, “Beauty and Violence: Japanese Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839-1892“, Havilland, Eindhoven, 1992 – Numbers refer to prints
- Lane: Richard Lane, “Images from the Floating World“, Chartwell Books, Secaucus, 1978 – Numbers are page/column/item, with columns being numbered from left to right, and items from top to bottom
- MFA: Museum of Fine Arts Collections – Number is accession number of item
- Self: James Self, Nobuko Hirose, “Japanese Art Signatures: A Handbook and Practical Guide“, Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland, 1987 – Numbers are as for Lane
