Letterpress, a printing technique, was the most widely used printing technique for about 500 years. Since Johannes Gutenberg of Germany invented the movable type printing press in the 15th century, it has become widely used to produce large quantities of the same items. It is said to have been introduced to Japan at the end of the Edo period.

Letterpress printing requires something called a "plate," which has a protruding portion where you want to print. When printing, ink is applied to this protruding portion, and the paper is placed on it and high pressure is applied from above with a printing press, which transfers the letters and images on the plate to the paper and prints it. The plate used to print letters is called "type."

In East Asia, printing has been done using wooden blocks since around the 7th century, but with inventions from the 15th century onwards, the material for the blocks changed to metals such as lead alloys. However, with subsequent technological developments, printing gradually shifted to "phototypesetting" and "offset", and letterpress printing fell into disuse.

However, in recent years, the unique textured finish of letterpress printing has been rediscovered by creators, and many letterpress studios have opened, mainly in the UK and the US.