Carving woodblocks and layering natural pigments one color at a time—there is a village about 30 km from Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, that people who picture ukiyo-e at that description should know about. On July 4, 2026, the major Vietnamese news site VietnamNet reported that travelers visiting the Dong Ho woodblock-print village in Bac Ninh Province were amazed by a "time-worn treasure." The treasure turned out to be not the images but handmade paper worked over with powdered seashell. This home of Vietnamese folk prints, going back more than 400 years, is a place you can visit in a half-day round trip from Hanoi and even try printing with your own hands. For Japanese who have grown up with washi and ukiyo-e, a sense of déjà vu and discovery should arrive at once.
A printmaking village 30 km from Hanoi, reported by VietnamNet
The starting point was a feature report VietnamNet published on July 4, 2026. The setting is Dong Ho village, spreading along the south bank of the Duong River east of Hanoi. Administratively it falls under the Thuan Thanh district of present-day Bac Ninh Province, and its distance from central Hanoi is reported to be about 30 km.
The article features the workshop of Nguyễn Đăng Chế, an artisan honored by the state with the title of “Outstanding Craftsman.” Color is laid on the ridges and grooves of a woodblock with a brush, then paper is pressed on to print one color at a time — the process is handwork from start to finish, and the pigments too are made from natural materials close at hand: black from burnt bamboo charcoal, blue from indigo leaves, yellow from night-blooming flowers, and red from natural minerals. The article says visitors to the workshop can not only watch the printing process but also try laying color on a block and pressing paper to print a sheet themselves.
What is Dong Ho woodblock printing — the 'folk pictures' that have decorated homes at Tet
Dong Ho prints are folk woodblock pictures from northern Vietnam said to have more than 400 years of history. The VietnamNet article cites as signature works "Ga Dai Cat," depicting a rooster that heralds great fortune, and "The Mouse's Wedding" (Dam Cuoi Chuot), in which mice march in procession to a wedding. Many designs carry wishes for prosperity and many descendants, and they have long been cherished as auspicious items pasted onto homes at Tet (Lunar New Year).
"The Mouse's Wedding": many will have recalled a Japanese folktale on hearing it. A procession of mice holding a wedding: the same theme became pictures separately in two countries across the sea. These chance overlaps make Dong Ho prints "somehow nostalgic even though you're seeing them for the first time" for Japanese.
The treasure isn't the picture but the paper - handmade paper coated with crushed shell
What the article’s headline calls a “treasure” is in fact not the picture itself but the paper. Dong Ho paper is handmade paper drawn from the bark of a tree called dó, coated with layers of ground seashell powder. VietnamNet reports that this paper has high strength and color retention, and resists termite damage even in long-term storage. The glittering shell layer supports the natural pigments’ color and forms the foundation of prints that have survived 400 years.
Readers familiar with washi can probably imagine the very texture from this description alone. Washi made from paper-mulberry fibers, and Vietnamese paper made from the bark of the do tree. Gofun, the white pigment of Japanese painting made by crushing oyster shells, and Dong Ho paper coated with shell powder. That the material thinking resembles each other this closely looks less like coincidence than an inevitability of Asian craft arriving at the same answer.
| Comparison item | Ukiyo-e (Japan) | Dong Ho prints (Vietnam) |
|---|---|---|
| 紙 | Washi made from fibers such as paper mulberry | Handmade paper from dó bark + a ground-seashell base |
| Where the colors come from | Pigments derived from plants and minerals (changing over time) | Bamboo charcoal, indigo leaves, night-blooming jasmine, natural minerals |
| How to make it | Multicolor printing through the division of labor among artist, carver and printer | Lay color on the block and print by hand at the artisan’s workshop |
| Subject matter | Actor prints, beauties, landscapes, and other popular entertainments | Lucky charms like roosters and The Mouse's Wedding |
| Buyer | The townspeople of Edo | Rural homes welcoming Tet |
What surprises those who visit — reactions from on-the-ground reports
The VietnamNet article is built around travelers' surprise. Nhung, a 23-year-old woman visiting from Hanoi, said "the plainness of the handwork gives the pieces a soul," and the first thing she named as memorable was the texture of the seashell-coated paper. She also said she was struck by a production process that is entirely handmade, from the underdrawing to the printing.
And the article's very headline reads "visitors are amazed by the seasoned treasures." A place that amazes people with the quality of paper and handwork rather than flashy staging or photo spots—the fact that local media introduces Dong Ho this way itself captures the village's character well.
From the land of washi and ukiyo-e - what Japanese readers can gain in Dong Ho
The reason Dong Ho prints resonate with Japanese people is not simply that they are “Asian traditional crafts.” Before ukiyo-e were museum treasures, they were a mass-produced medium that ordinary people casually bought and pasted on their walls. Dong Ho prints are exactly the same: pictures of everyday life that rural households buy anew each Tet.The invention that, through multicolor woodblock printing, 'made pictures belong to ordinary people' happened in parallel in Japan and Vietnam—looking at the prints on site, that fact sinks in.
Another value is the quality of the experience. Places in Japan where you can experience printing ukiyo-e are limited, and for many people ukiyo-e has become something to "view through glass." At Dong Ho, in the workshop of a working artisan holding the title of master craftsman, tourists can grip the brush, load color onto the block, and print a sheet themselves. Not tradition behind glass, but tradition that gets your hands dirty. This closeness sits in the same context as Japan's craft-producing regions, troubled by finding successors, putting effort into hands-on workshops and production-area tourism, and as a traveler you can receive the benefit of that "open workshop" as is.
Its practicality as a souvenir shouldn't be overlooked either. Prints are light, don't take up space, and require none of the care of wet or breakable items. Unlike Hanoi's standard souvenirs of coffee and sweets, you can carry home "400-year-old paper and natural pigments" story and all, and frame it. As a record of a trip, there's little that beats a print you made yourself.
A half-day trip from Hanoi — a practical guide to access and the experience
Dong Ho village is about 30 km from central Hanoi. Reaching it by public transport alone involves difficult connections, so calling a car with a ride-hailing app like Grab or chartering a taxi for half a day is realistic. Depending on road conditions, allowing about an hour each way lets you set up a half-day trip leaving in the morning and returning to Hanoi in the early afternoon. At the workshops you can just observe, or go as far as trying the printing yourself. Since they work with natural pigments, if you do the hands-on part, clothes you don't mind getting dirty are the safe choice.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Dong Ho village, Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh Province (south bank of the Duong River) |
| Distance from Hanoi | About 30 km |
| How to get there | Arranging a car via a ride-hailing app, or a half-day taxi charter, is realistic |
| Estimated time required | About an hour each way (varies with road conditions); a round trip is possible in half a day |
| What you can do on site | Touring artisans' workshops, a printmaking experience inking the block and pressing prints, and buying works |
| Clothing | Wear clothes you won't mind getting stained with pigment |
If you're planning it together with getting around central Hanoi,The story of central-area buses being made free for a yearis a useful reference. If you visit on a weekend, in the eveningThe initiative turning 11 old-quarter streets into pedestrian spaces by keeping motorbikes out, combine it and you can make a day of village handcrafts by day and an Old Quarter stroll by night. For those who like trips that touch village life, the south'sVillage tourism deep in the Mekong, staying in a palmyra palm forestplease read alongside this too.
Summary — a printed sheet in your suitcase
The Dong Ho printmaking village, just 30 km from Hanoi, is the home of 'Vietnam's ukiyo-e.' Handmade paper coated with shell powder, pigments made from bamboo charcoal and indigo leaves, and artisans' workshops that even let tourists take up the brush. For a traveler coming from the land of washi and ukiyo-e, few places are this satisfying to cross-reference. If your next Hanoi itinerary has half a day to spare, call a car with a ride-hailing app and head to the south bank of the Duong River. Don't stop at just looking — press a sheet with your own hands, frame it, and take it home. That's the most luxurious way to enjoy this village.
