Detail map of Kamihonnōjimaechō, Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan Overview map of Kamihonnōjimaechō, Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

A: Kamihonnōjimaechō, Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

Emperor Go-Yōzei Orders the Printing of the Analects of Confucius, One of the Oldest Surviving Works of Japanese Printing by Movable Type

1598
Emperor Go Yōzei2

Emperor G0-Yōzei, the 107th Emperor of Japan.

Using Korean printing equipment brought back by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army in 1593, and type cast by the order of Tokugawa Ieyasu before he became shogun, in 1598 the Japanese printed an edition of the Confucian (Confucius) Analects at the order of Emperor Go-Yōzei. This document is one of the oldest surviving works of Japanese printing by movable type.

Despite the appeal of movable type, the Japanese decided that the running script or semi-cursive style of Japanese writing was better reproduced using woodblocks, and by 1640 woodblock printing was adopted for nearly all purposes in Japan. 

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