A woodblock printed advertisement used to announce a store, publicize a product, or advertise a new publication. In the early decades of the 18th century, handbills yasuuri fudamawashi 安売札廻し with only the names of the product and the store name were circulated to advertise sales, but by mid-century, product origins and the benefits of buying them were explained in detail in the circulars. At this time ink-printed pictures were also added. By the 1760s-70s the ads became more elaborate and fiction writers were requested to write lines for them. Hikifuda reached their peak in the early decades of the 19th century when famous fiction-writers such as Santō Kyōden 山東京伝 (1761-1816) and Ōta Nanpō 大田南畝 (Shokusanjin 蜀山人, 1749-1823) were requested to compose the lines and famous print artists such as Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849) were asked to design the pictures.