NorCal fake prints
NorCal fakes are so called after the dealer who created these fake prints. The dealer operated in Northern California. Generally these were posthumous editions published by either Yoshida Studio or Watanabe Print Co that were altered, passed off and sold as lifetime editions. Prints by shin-hanga artists were generally the most vulnerable e.g. Hiroshi Yoshida, Toshi Yoshida, Kawase Hasui, Ohara Shoson and Tsuchiya Koitsu.
Such prints are described on the following webpages:
- www.jaodb.com/misc/wpw/wpw.htm
- moku-hanga.org/kawase-hasui/zojoji-fake-seals/
- moku-hanga.org/hiroshi-yoshida/lifetime-prints/
NorCal fakes have also appeared in thrift shops, in much older frames, which may have been an attempt to sow doubt about the age and provenance of such prints.
