Hongyo floor tiles were the first mass-produced tiles in Japan. At first the tiles were hand painted with cobalt pigment; later, however, the transfer printing method was introduced to facilitate mass production. Tiles with a variety of designs were produced into the Taisho era.

 

Apply paint (cobalt) to the engraved copper plate and print on Japanese paper. The Japanese paper is placed on a white porcelain board and water is soaked from above.