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Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name) after he died, was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints.<br/><br/> He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who really moved it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century.
Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name) after he died, was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints.<br/><br/> He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who really moved it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century.
Ukiyo-e, or ukiyo-ye ('pictures of the floating world'), is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that flourished in Japan from the 17th through 19th centuries. It was aimed at the prosperous merchant class in the urbanizing Edo period (1603–1867). Amongst the popular themes were depictions of beautiful women; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica.<br/><br/> Edo (modern Tokyo) became the seat of government for the military dictatorship in the early 17th century. The merchant class at the bottom of the social order found themselves the greatest beneficiaries of the city's rapid economic growth. Many indulged in the entertainments of kabuki theatre, courtesans, and geisha of the pleasure districts. The term ukiyo ('floating world') came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle. Printed or painted 'ukiyo-e' images of this environment emerged in the late 17th century; they were popular with the merchant class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with such works.
Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name) after he died, was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints.<br/><br/> He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who really moved it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century.
Samurai is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.<br/><br/> The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as Bushidō. While they numbered less than ten percent of Japan's population, samurai teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in martial arts such as Kendō, meaning the way of the sword.