EDITORIAL: As far back as 1765, favourite geisha from Kyoto teahouses were selected to participate in an elegant parade that took place every July in the Gion, the city's main entertainment district. Being selected for the parade was a great honour, which was further heightened when a geisha was portrayed in a woodblock print. For Andon 63 (October 1999) Peter Uljaki wrote an introduction to these Gion prints based on the pioneering investigations of Akifumi Nakade. The hosoban stencil prints he illustrated in that article aroused much interest and several members of our society came up with new material. So we asked Peter for a follow-up article. With the help of others he identified over 150 hosoban Gion prints. Most of these are illustrated and discussed in this issue of Andon. By doing so we seek to provide a unique resource for the hitherto neglected field of Gion prints. 

With this issue we take leave of Eric aan der Ing, who for personal reasons, steps down as member of the Editorial Board of Andon. We are very grateful for the good work he has done and we will miss his practical approach and also his polishing of our 'polder' English. The place of Eric will be taken by Inge Klompmakers. Inge received her Master's degree in Japanese Studies from Leiden University in 1996. She has worked for many years in a Japanese Art Gallery and is the author of Japanese erotic prints, by Harunobu & Koryūsai and Of brigands and bravery: Kuniyoshi's heroes of the Suikoden.