Kiri-e

When someone sees this beautiful noh mask picture, they start asking - what kind of graphic art is this?

Kiri-e (切り絵) comes from the characters for “cut” (kiri) and “picture” (e) and refers to the art of paper cutting.

This is an ancient art brought to Japan from China about 1400 years ago. At first it was used for gifts to temples and home decoration.

Then, practical Japanese people found that this art can be used for making kimono templates.