Rakusan is not known to have ever recarved any of his woodblocks and all copies are pulled from the original blocks. Copies of 100 Series prints are known from three clearly identifiable major editions:

Edition I: The only complete edition is the first which was planned and painted on silk between 1925 and 1929 and published as woodblock prints in regular stages between 1929 and 1933.

Edition II: The second edition includes many reprintings of individual designs from 1933 to about 1941.

Edition III: A lesser number of designs were reprinted in a third edition during a short period sometime between 1947 and 1955.

These editions may be distinguished by the use of particular watermarks, signatures, seals, color or style variations, and papers.

WATERMARKS: Each original woodblock print from the 100 Series has one three specially prepared watermarks. The particular watermark is usually diagnostic of the edition of the print. The watermark appears as a translucent set of kanji characters in the wide lower margin below the image. The watermark is often overprinted in part by the title-caption of the design. The watermark characters are large, 3 centimeters square and about the same distance apart, and can best be seen by holding an unmounted sheet up to a strong light. If the print has been framed or backed, the characters may still be seen in oblique light by observing the changes to the paper surface. Each of these three different watermarks includes characters reading 楽山 Raku-zan but in slightly different fonts.

All of the watermarks are designed to be read from right to left, and nearly all watermarks are oriented properly on the paper relative to the later woodblock printing of the text and image. However, the paper looks and feels the same on both faces, and in a few rare examples the later woodblock printing was accidentally done on the wrong side of the paper; so the watermark is mirror-image backwards when seen from the printed face of the paper.

Edition I: The first edition watermark 楽山花鳥畫譜 Raku-zan Ka-chou Ga-fu is the original title for the entire series, here translated as Rakusan Flower and Bird Print Series. This title also appears on other material associated with the set. The six characters in this watermark are read from right to left. All first edition prints have the first edition watermark. However, sometime late in the second edition (1937-1941) when his regular supplies became impossible to obtain, Rakusan printed some copies of second edition reprints on his leftover stock of paper with first edition watermarks. Thus, a first edition watermark is diagonostic of the first edition only when associated with a first edition signature and seal combination on the same print.

Edition I Watermark

Accidentally Reversed Edition I Watermark (rare)

Edition II: The usual second edition watermark 楽山篁子生 Raku-zan Kou-shi-sei combines the two most common print name aliases. The five characters are read from right to left. All known examples of the second edition watermark are properly oriented, but a few accidentally reversed copies may exist. A second edition watermark is always diagnostic of the second edition. As noted above, some second edition prints have first edition watermarks.

Edition II Watermark

Edition III: The third edition watermark 白蛙老楽山 Haku-a-ro Raku-zan includes the late print name alias 'White Frog Old Man'. The five characters are read from right to left. A third edition watermark is always diagnostic of the third edition.

Edition III Watermark


Accidentally Reversed Edition III Watermark (rare)

SIGNATURES: Most of the characters that form the signature are in black ink just above or to the left of the red seal within the image area of the print. (The Japanese characters in gray ink in the lower margin are the title or caption for the print - not the signature.) On print designs 53 and 96 the signature is always in gold ink instead of black; and on print design 95 which always has a gold seal instead of a red one there is never an accompanying signature.

Determining the edition from the signature is less certain than using the watermark since some of the same signatures may occur in more than one edition. The first edition is well documented, but the compositions of the very large second edition and the very small third edition are incompletely known. As more data are accumulated some of the distributions listed here for those editions may change.

Rakuzan Kyo

Rakuzan Saku

Rakuzan Koushisei

San Setsu An Rakuzan (var.)

San Setsu An Rakuzan (var.)

Since a first edition print never has more than three characters in a signature, a signature with five characters is definitely a reprint!

SEALS: The seals used by Rakusan have been assigned letter designations to make referring to them easier. Some of seals are restricted to a single edition and others occur in more than one. [See also the separate article on Rakusan Seals for additional seal illustrations.]

Seal A

Seal B

Seal F

Seal G

Seal H

Seal H is the only 100 Series seal printed in gold ink and occurring without an accompanying signature. It occurs only on print design 95 which is so far known only from first edition copies and may not have been reprinted. The other ninety-nine designs have red seals A, B, F, or G.

Notice that seal B is known only from reprintings, and seal G and H only from the first edition. Since the third edition was smaller, it is less well known. It remains possible that some additional seals were used in this period. Please contact us if you have a copy with a third edition watermark and a seal other than seal B!

SIGNATURE AND SEAL COMBINATIONS: During the first edition the signature and seal combination used is the same on all copies of the same design. In the later editions there is more variability, and the same designs are known with different combinations within the same edition. Since all of the illustrations in the main image gallery are of first edition copies, any signature or seal variation from those shown must indicate a later edition.

COLOR AND TECHNIQUE VARIATIONS: There are generally no (or only very minor) variations in the printed image between first and second edition copies of the same 100 Series design. The ink colors are usually the same and the few differences are ones of technique. As war approached Rakusan found it difficult to obtain his accustomed supplies. Some later second edition prints lack metallic inks, may also have less or no metallic glitter scattering, and different papers were used. After the war many of the third edition images were produced using strikingly different ink colors and techniques. The variations are especially obvious in the choices of backgrounds. In the main image gallery all of the 100 Series illustrations are from the first edition. Therefore any deviations from the colors or techniques seen there probably indicate a later edition. These two copies show how different the first and third edition prints may be:

47 (edition I)

47 (edition III)

PAPERS: The paper used in the first edition, in addition to having the same watermark, is all of a uniform weight, color, and finish. If any two prints of similar condition from the 100 Series are examined, and any difference is noted in the papers, then the prints cannot both be first editions. During the second edition period Rakusan had troubles getting his preferred paper stock, and many different papers were used. Some of these papers were noticeably heavier and stiffer than the type used for the first edition. Therefore the type of paper by itself is not diagnostic as to period.

© 2005; revisions 2006, 2007 Dr Michael J P Nichols