| A woodblock printed advertisement used to announce 
      a store , publicize a product, or advertise a new publication. In the early 
      decades of the 18c, 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 19c when famous fiction-writers such as Santou 
      Kyouden 山東京伝 (1761-1816) and Oota Nanpou 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. 
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