Woodblock printing in Japan is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Invented in China during the Tang dynasty, woodblock printing was widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868). It is similar to woodcut in Western printmaking in some regards, but was widely used for text as well as images. The Japanese mokuhanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to Western woodcut, which typically uses oil-based inks. Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency.