Gyotaku is a Japanese fish printing art created in the early 1800's using rice paper and natural berry inks to preserve exact sizes of prized catches. The rubbings were used to prove these records as this was pre photography times in that area. People would compete with each other and needed some way to record the fish as well as honoring the fish itself. The first printing was done with only one color just to prove size and species but at some point evolved to more colors to bring out a more artful rendition of the subject. This art form reproduces the exact features and characteristics of the fish.