dōbori 胴彫

Lit. body carving. The carver of woodblocks for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints who was responsible for the bodies of human figures, as well as the patterns on robes or background details of the key block, *omohan 主版, which prints the all-important outline of a design. Only after a minimum of five years apprenticeship was a block carver allowed to try this aspect of carving. However, it required less skill and experience than the delicate carving of faces and hair, *kashirabori 頭彫, which were left to the master engraver.