A woodblock printed advertisement used to announce
a store , publicize a product, or advertise a new publication. In the early
decades of the 18c, handbills yasuuri fudamawashi 安売札廻し with only
the names of the product and the store name were circulated to advertise
sales, but by mid-century, product origins and the benefits of buying them
were explained in detail in the circulars. At this time ink-printed pictures
were also added. By the 1760s-70s the ads became more elaborate and fiction
writers were requested to write lines for them. Hikifuda reached their peak
in the early decades of the 19c when famous fiction-writers such as Santou
Kyouden 山東京伝 (1761-1816) and Oota Nanpou 大田南畝 (Shokusanjin 蜀山人;1749-1823)
were requested to compose the lines and famous print artists such as Katsushika
Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849) were asked to design the pictures.
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