Some chief characteristics of the earliest print culture in Japan were as follows:
- printing introduced in Japan in around AD 768-770
- pictures were printed on textiles,by playing cards and paper money
- printing of visual material led to interesting publishing practices like arranging for teahouse gatherings, establishing libraries and bookstores
- an art form called ukiyo (‘pictures of the floating world’) or depiction of ordinary human experiences, especially urban ones was also an innovation of the Japanese.
