Also shizume ukibori 沈め浮彫. Hollow relief carving. An inscription or motif hollowed out of a surface using a burin.
Known also as low relief carving, shishiaibori 肉合彫, when applied to metalwork. In metalwork, the outlines of a design are inscribed on the surface, and then the surrounding areas are lightly hollowed out to leave the design upstanding in low relief. The level of the design is usually lower than the original metal surface. Sugiura Jōi 杉浦乗意 (1701-61) is said to be the first Japanese artist to have used shishiaibori.
In printmaking, inkoku consists of carving out the outlines of a design on the printing block or plate, which are then expressed as white lines in the finished print.
The opposite of inkoku is yōkoku 陽刻, where the design projects from the surface.