Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Japanese, 1798–1861

BiographyHis birth name was Yoshisaburô, and Utagawa was the name of the school he joined; afterwards he assumed it as his name. Although Kuniyoshi is now primarily known as Utagawa Kuniyoshi, he also used the names Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi, Chô-ô-rô Kuniyoshi, Igusa Kuniyoshi, Ichi Kuniyoshi and Saihôsa Kuniyoshi. You can read more about him here: http://www.kuniyoshiproject.com/Kuniyoshi%20Biography.htm

Kuniyoshi Utagawa is one of the outstanding Ukiyo-e artists of the late Edo period in the 19th century. He was born in Edo (Tokyo) in 1797 - when Europe was still under the influence of the shock waves of the French revolution.

Student of the Utagawa School
Information about the childhood of Kuniyoshi is a bit in the mist. His father was a silk-dyer and the given name of the boy was Yoshisaburo.

The young Yoshisaburo apparently developed a passion for drawing at a very early age. At the age of 14, he joined the famous Utagawa school, then headed by the great master Toyokuni Utagawa (1769 - 1825). According to other sources, he had been trained by Katsukawa Shuntei before.

Toyokuni gave his talented student Yoshisaburo the name Kuniyoshi. At that time it was the habit, that a student who had entered an art school, received a new artist name that was connected to the master's name. The name was created from the ending kuni of Toyokuni and the beginning of the boy's name Yoshisaburo.

After having left the Utagawa School, he had a tough time to make a living as an ukiyo-e artist. He was even forced to earn his living by repairing and selling floor-mats.

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