Rankafu

“Rankafu is a remarkable book, which tells the story of a remarkable set of Japanese orchid woodblock prints from the early 20th century, and through them the story of three remarkable men.”– “Lankesteriana”

Stephen Kirby is a geophysicist at the US Geological Society. He also lectures and does research at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan and the University College, London. Tropical orchids have heldhis attention for nearly 20 years, both as an amateur grower and a research associate investigating orchid biogeography at the Lankester Botanical Garden in Costa Rica. Toshikazu Doi is a retired executive in the Pharmaceutical Division of the Kirin Beer Company. For 20 years he has been an active collector and researcher of Japanese woodblock prints of the late Meijiand Taisho eras (1870s - 1926) and especiallythe Shin Hanga era (~1915-1960). He is a member ofthe Mokuhankan woodblock print shop team whose mission is to help sustain the art and practice of woodblock printing. Toru Otsuka is a retired researcher, writer and interviewer who worked for NHK Broadcasting Company in Tokyo and Osaka. He has for four decades collected photographs, documents, and other information relating to the Rankafu woodblock print story, amassing probably the largest privately-held collection in Japan.