Japan: 'Minakuchi: the actor Sawamura Chojuro V as Choemon', woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), c. 1852

Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – January 12, 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III) was the most popular, prolific and financially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.

Surprisingly, not many details of Kunisada's life are recorded, aside from a few well-established events. He was born in 1786 in Honjo, a district of Edo, with the given name Sumida Shogoro IX. His family owned a fairly successful ferry-boat service, and he soon developed an artistic talent as he grew up. So impressive were his early sketches that he caught the eye of Toyokuni, great master of the Utagawa School, who soon took him on as an apprentice.

His skills and renown quickly grew, and he became head of the Utagawa School in 1825, where he would teach and design woodblock prints until his death in 1865, having achieved the largest collection of woodblock prints of any designer in 19th-century Japan.

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