State an important characteristic of the oldest Japanese book, Diamond Sutra.

The oldest Japanese book, the Buddhist Diamond Sutra contained six sheets of texts and woodcut illustrations.

NOTE – The earliest kind of printing was developed in China, Japan, and Korea – a system of hand printing. Printing by rubber paper and printing against inked surface woodblocks developed in China. However, as new technology came up in the field of printing, western printing techniques and mechanical presses were imported in the late nineteenth century. This was accompanied by a gradual shift from hand printing to mechanical printing.

The Buddhist missionaries from China were responsible for bringing hand printing technology in Japan around AD 768-770.