<P> Woodblock printing in Japan (木 版画, mokuhanga) is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo - e artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period . Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603--1868). Although similar to woodcut in Western printmaking in some regards, the mokuhanga technique differs in that it uses water - based inks--as opposed to western woodcut, which often uses oil - based inks . The Japanese water - based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency . </P> <P> Woodblock - printed books from Chinese Buddhist temples were seen in Japan as early as the eighth century . In 764 the Empress Kōken commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll printed with a Buddhist text (Hyakumantō Darani). These were distributed to temples around the country as thanksgiving for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764 . These are the earliest examples of woodblock printing known, or bobs on documented, from Japan . </P>

What name do the japanese use to refer to the art of woodblock printing