Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Pref. ¨C Mineo Yamamoto covers?a flounder with paper and dabs it with an ink-covered tampo, a small bulb of cotton wrapped in fine silk and named for its resemblance to a dandelion. Slowly, the fish emerges in fine detail.
Yamamoto, 82, who runs the in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture, 90 minutes from central Tokyo, is demonstrating to students the art of gyotaku ¡ª literally, ¡°fish printing.¡± The monochrome prints, created by applying sumi ink on the fish and then pressing it onto washi paper, originated in the mid-19th century as a way for Japanese fishermen to create records of their catches with added details such as the date, location, fisher¡¯s name and, sometimes, a witness¡¯ signature.
Yamamoto began teaching himself gyotaku to document the fish he caught. It was not until a year later, at a boating fair, that he saw the medium¡¯s artistic potential while watching a full-color print of a red sea bream being made.
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