Sosaku-hanga (lit. 'creative prints') was an art movement which began in the early 20th-century that was influenced by the Western expectation that an artist is the sole creator of his work, in this case prints (usually woodblock prints). Sosaku-hanga artists emphasized the importance of conducting all steps in the creative process by themselves, including the design (jiga, lit. 'self-carved'), carving (jikoku, 'self-carved'), and printing (jizuri, lit. 'self-printed'). Stylistically, sosaku-hanga prints move away from traditional Japanese aesthetics and tend to lean towards abstract expressionist compositions.