Lithography is a process that was developed in Europe in 1796 by Aloys Senefender. Using stone or aluminum plates, colors are transferred onto paper to create art prints. The process involves using an oil crayon to set the design on the plates, which colored ink will replace. The ink will then be printed to the paper in this shape. The process is repeated for different colors of inks which combine to create the design on the paper.

While not Japanese in origin, lithography has similarities to traditional woodblock printing. In the printing of Ukiyo-e, the shape of wood created designs in ink on paper as opposed to the chemical process used in lithography. Several Japanese artists have picked up and applied their own style to lithography. One of the best recent artists in this genre of Japanese aluminum lithograpy is Yasuhiro Suzuki, whose work above is in the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art collection.