Increasing Interest in Letterpress Printing through Nakamura Printing 

 Chinen expressed how she started her journey into Letterpress printing, “Letterpress printing enhances simplicity and highlights the material used. This tactile enjoyment is its charm. Originally, letterpress printing was not intended to create indents. However, it’s simple, beautiful, and starts with paper selection, engaging the senses through touch and the scent of ink. It imparts a sense of rusticity and adds to its luxury. Despite covering the same area, different expressions can change its appearance, providing varied enjoyment. 

I have been in the printing business for 23 years. When I started, letterpress printing was already declining, giving way to offset printing. I entered the printing industry without knowing anything about letterpress printing. The industry evolved quickly. When I started, color printing wasn’t easily achievable, but now we live in an era where you can send data to a printer and get color prints instantly. As printing became faster, cheaper, and more beautiful, it diverged from what I originally wanted to do. 

While the ability to easily create color and a wide range of designs is amazing, it wasn’t what I was looking for. At that time, my work and mindset were starting to drift apart. However, the rise of the internet allowed me to research printing more. I discovered that letterpress printing was making a comeback in Tokyo and, intrigued, I decided to check it out. 

In Tokyo, I attended events focused on letterpress printing and observed behind-the-scenes work, which captivated me. Simply put, I fell in love with the craft of printing. However, I didn’t know much about it and lacked the necessary tools, so for about two years, I just visited these events. Eventually, I wanted to move from being a visitor to a creator. This led me to start searching for letterpress machines.” 

On the other hand, Machida recounted his challenging experience of fixing an old letterpress machine, “I found a manual machine in a state of disrepair in a warehouse. Seeing it sparked my curiosity. I disassembled, reassembled, and repainted it, making it functional again. This process wasn’t available online; I had to learn and figure it out myself. Gradually, I managed to operate the manual machine. Then, a larger machine came in, and I had to learn everything from scratch, experimenting to make it work.” 

Chinen reiterated the significance of Letterpress printing by concluding the video with her remarks: “Like other traditional crafts and cultures, printing has a deep history and richness. I hope more customers will learn about and appreciate what is created through this process. Preferences vary, but knowledge makes a difference. I aim to spread this awareness not just by myself but by forming a team with those who share this passion. We plan to create projects to promote this art. I want people to rediscover printing. To achieve this, I will connect with designers and paper makers, creating more opportunities to share this craft with everyone.”