Onoe Kikugorō in the role of Yaoya Oshichi and Nakamura Kiyosaburō as her lover the koshō (page) Kichisaburō, Edo period (1615?1868), 1750, Japan, Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper, 16 x 11 1/4 in. (40. 6 x 28. 6 cm), Prints, Okumura Masanobu (Japanese, 1686?1764), The invention of color block printing by the mid-eighteenth century irrevocably transformed the vigorous early ukiyo-e style. The new technique, which used separate blocks for each color, placed greater attention on coordinating the component parts and emphasized the process of color overlays