Reiko Yamanouchi remembers clearly how wood engraving entered her life. "Soon after joining my husband in Cambridge in 1968 -- he was a research student at the university -- I was given a book to help me get a feeling for the city, a memoir by Gwen Raverat, the granddaughter of Charles Darwin.
Raverat had not only written the book but illustrated it with her own pen drawings. "When I learned she was also a wood engraver, I sought out some examples. The first time I saw them, I was thrilled. I'd never seen such fine detail before." It was the beginning of a love affair with the technique.
Over the past 10 years, Reiko has staged 20 exhibitions, introducing the work of British artists to Japan, but the show that opens Monday for six days at Ginza's Gallery Yougen will feature the work of both English and Japanese engravers. "I'm very excited. It's never been done before."