A journey of discovery into how a Canadian craftsman and an American designer, with a father and son generation gap, team up to revive the ancient art of Japanese woodblock prints (Ukiyo-e) by juxtaposing traditional art with pop culture icons such as Super Mario and Pokémon.

Ukiyo-e: The traditional art form known worldwide as the “Face of Japan” has over several hundred years inspired Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso to create their masterpieces. Today, there are less than 10 remaining craftsmen in Japan.

A Canadian craftsman, David Bull, has become one of the leading ukiyo-e artists in Japan. He gave up everything to come to Tokyo 30 years ago to learn the ancient craft from scratch. David teamed up with a young American illustrator and a video game nerd, Jed Henry, to revolutionize the business for global Asian art collectors and fans of Japanese games and pop culture. This became the Ukiyo-e Heroes project. You can view Ukiyoe Heroes’ works here.

We follow the making-of of their new print and witness the miraculous collaboration of the two contrasting artists: old-school and new-school, artisanal and digital, who need each other to create inspirational for a global audience. The film also feature iconic Japanese craftsmen who work with them, including IWANO Ichibei, who is the 8th generation handmade Japanese paper grand master.