Nishiki-e is the Japanese name for the multicolored ukiyo-e printing technique perfected in the 1760s.
The term means “brocade pictures,” evoking the rich appearance of woven textiles. Nishiki-e used separate woodblocks for different colors, carefully aligned through registration marks so the impressions fit together on one sheet.
The technique is closely associated with Suzuki Harunobu, whose prints from around 1765 demonstrated the possibilities of refined full-color printing. The method depended on coordinated work by publishers, designers, block carvers, and printers. It also made subtle backgrounds, patterned fabrics, and layered color effects commercially practical.
Nishiki-e is not identical to mokuhanga in the broadest sense. Mokuhanga can refer generally to Japanese woodblock printing, while nishiki-e specifically emphasizes polychrome, multiblock images. Sumizuri-e, by contrast, means black-ink printing.