Bansange

The title Bansange likens the woodblock print to sange—the Buddhist gesture of scattering flowers before an altar as an offering—an emblematic choice of words from Munakata, an artist who poured a deep, lifelong Buddhist faith and passion into his work. Released in the midst of the Pacific War, the book is also valued as a document marking the origin of the artist who would later win worldwide fame as a woodblock master.

It was in this very book—in its afterword—that Munakata declared he would thereafter call all of his prints banga (板画, "board pictures"), deliberately using the character for "board/wood" (板) in place of the usual character for "print" (版), to honor the innate nature of the wood and the spirit of the board brought directly to life.