Japanese woodblock prints have long been among the most popular and accessible of art forms, attracting a western audience for more than 150 years, even before Commander Matthew Perry brought his fleet to the Edo harbor in 1853 and, pointing US guns at the unprotected city, forced Japan to sign the Treaty of Friendship and open its borders to outside contact and trade. By that time, woodblock printing arts had been perfected for over 150 years, but while popularly collected, even prized, had been of little value. Yet a western audience, unaccustomed to the unique qualities of line, perspective, and the nuanced natural colors that defined a radical Asian aesthetic, recognized a value both artistic and monetary, that has created a flurry of collecting and, especially today, historical writing on the prints. Well known to many are the names of Suzuki Haronobu, Toshusai Sharaku, Utamaro, Ando Hiroshige, and Katsushika Hokusai, among many others, and some of their most famous individual pieces or series. The desire to learn more about their art seems insatiable, to judge by the regular appearance of books devoted to one or all of them, or to some aspect of their creative genius. Adding to the mix, and feeding further this western fascination, is a small new volume by Rebecca Salter, Japanese Woodblock Printing.