Hello!

Artefakt Press is a coffee roastery and Risograph printing studio in Niigata, Japan. We do all our roasting and printing in the historical Yoshino Kappanjo building, a 107-year-old print factory in the city’s old commercial district. We print limited run posters, postcards, books and various other items, and also offer printing services, studio rental and Risograph workshops.

We also have a shop and gallery open Monday to Friday, 12pm to 7pm.

What's a Risograph?

The Risograph machine is a high speed high volume duplicator first sold by the Riso Corporation in the 1980’s, designed to economically print runs of between 50 and 10,000 copies.

The machine creates a stencil which is then wrapped around an ink drum. As the drum rotates, ink is pushed through the stencil and onto paper. The process shares similarities with both silk-screen and offset printing.

50 ink colors are available, of which we have 10 at Artefakt. Inks are made from rice bran oil, and the machine requires very little electricity to operate, making it a particularly sustainable method of printing. Prints typically display various imperfections, making every copy one-of-a-kind.

Shop

We sell coffee and limited run posters, postcards, books, badges and other items designed by local artists and printed right here in our studio. Items are available for sale in our Furumachi shop and gallery, and also in our online store.

All sales go directly to preserving and restoring the Yoshino Kappanjo building.

FURUMACHI SHOPONLINE SHOP

Studio

Our Risograph studio is available to rent either by the hour or by the day. For more information, and to make bookings, please contact us. (Coming in 2023.)

Workshop

We hold regular half-day workshops for people interested in creating their own Risograph art. For information on upcoming workshops and to reserve a spot, please see our social media pages. (Coming in 2023.)

Printing service

We provide an order printing service for various items in both high and low volumes. If you can print it on paper, you can probably make it on a Risograph machine. If you would like to discuss your project, please get in touch. (Coming in 2023.)