Unsodo was founded in 1891 as a publishing house with a focus on art. 
 Yamada Naosaburø, the founder, received vital training and experience
 working at Kyoto’s venerable Bunkyüdo bookstore. 
 Upon declaring his independence, he opened Unsødø at its current
 location, Teramachi/Nijo. In 1918, Unsodo opened a branch shop
 in Tokyo. 

 The scholar/artist Tomioka Tessai created the shop name, believing
 that since plants are vital to the production of books,placing the plant
 character “so” in the center of the name would ensure the success
 of Unsodo books. 
 Since its founding,there has been a steady stream of art related
 publications, including traditional copybook “gafu”,progressive school
 instruction books, “zuan” pattern books, ukiyo-e prints, photo
 collections and art study works. 

 In addition to woodblock printed works, Unsodo has created works in
 other media: lithographic, collotype,and full-color publications devoted
 to the fine arts and applied arts.
 Unsodo is especially noted for its continuing publication of such
 masterpieces of book art as Katsushika Hokusai’s Hundred Views of
 Mt. Fuji, and his Hokusai Manga, as well as such 20^th century classics
 as Kamisaka Sekka’s Momoyogusa. 

 The possession of tens of thousands of original woodblocks establishes
 Unsodo as the authentic publisher of its woodblock printed books. 
 ven now, the look and feel of woodblock printed books is uniquely
 appealing, and Unsodo publications are Japan’s most authoritative. 
 Despite the prevalence of modern developments in offset and digital
 printing, Unsodo, together with the dedicated block carvers and printers
 of Kyoto, are pleased and proud to carry on the traditional woodblock
 printing of books and prints