Create Your Own New Year's Print: Japanese Woodblock Printing with Hiroko Imada

Date
Saturday 28 November 2026
Sunday 29 November 2026

Time
1.00 - 4.00pm

Venue
The Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace (Outer Circle)
London NW1 4QP

Booking Details
Booking essential
Early-bird rate (The Japan Society members and accompanying guests): £30 per person
Priority early-bird booking is available to members of The Japan Society and their accompanying guests until Wednesday 11 November 2026.
Regular rate: £50 per person

All tools, equipment and materials will be provided on the day

Bookings open to non-members from Thursday 12 November 2026 (More details on how to become a member here)

Please note that spaces are limited and so early booking is recommended.

Discover the art of Japanese woodblock printing (moku-hanga) and create your own handmade New Year's greeting card in this festive workshop led by London-based artist Hiroko Imada. Combining traditional techniques with personal creativity, this hands-on session offers a wonderful opportunity to make something unique to celebrate the coming year.

Following the success of her workshops at The Japan Society since 2023, we are delighted to welcome Hiroko Imada back for another weekend of printmaking this November. Her workshops have proved consistently popular, with places selling out each year, so we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.

Suitable for both beginners and those wishing to develop their skills, this half-day workshop introduces the materials and techniques of moku-hanga, a traditional Japanese method of relief printing. Working with woodblocks, water-based inks and a baren (a hand-held printing tool), participants will explore the distinctive qualities of this centuries-old craft and produce their own original prints on Japanese paper.

Participants will learn how to:

• Create an original design
• Carve their own woodblock
• Print in black and white on Japanese paper

Participants are encouraged to think about their design in advance and bring along a simple idea or sketch to help them get started. Seasonal imagery and traditional Japanese motifs can provide inspiration, as can the zodiac: 2027 is the Year of the Goat (or Sheep), offering a playful starting point for a New Year's print.

No prior experience is needed. Beginners are warmly welcome, and those with some experience can build confidence and refine their technique.

Hiroko Imada is a London-based painter, printmaker and site-specific installation artist. She studied art at Tokyo Zokei University and The Slade School of Fine Art and has exhibited throughout Europe and Japan.Imada has been commissioned numerous times to create prints for film projects by prestigious organisations.

In 2025, the British Museum commissioned her to produce a colour woodblock print inspired by Hiroshige’s Ferry on the Fuji River, Suruga Province (c.1832), focusing on the bokashi (gradation) technique. The printing process was filmed and the film was displayed alongside Hiroshige’s original print in the exhibition Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road at the British Museum.Her site-specific installation Sakura saku (“Cherry blossoms are blooming”), originally presented at Watts Gallery in 2024 and incorporating woodblock printing techniques, was subsequently exhibited at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath as the centrepiece of the In Bloom exhibition in 2025. It was also displayed at the Embassy of Japan Gallery, London, as part of the Washi: The Artistic Spirit of Japanese Paper exhibition from May to August 2026. Three of her works were also displayed as part of the Japan: Between the Ocean & the Seas exhibition at the Embassy of Japan Gallery from August to November 2026. She also created a Cherry Blossoms faux stained glass installation for the cherry blossom season at The Ned, sponsored by The Ned London and The House of Suntory. This marked the first time in 100 years that the historic building’s windows had been altered.

Hiroko specialises in teaching Japanese woodblock printing, papermaking, folded screenmaking, and hanging scroll making. She has taught Japanese woodblock printing regularly at the British Museum since 2000 and at the King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts since 2017. Hiroko is a member of the Japan Artists Association and the International Association of Art.