Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Utagawa Kuniyoshi is one of the great ukiyo-e woodblock print masters of the late Edo period in the 19th century, renowned for dynamic and often violent prints of monsters, demons, ghosts, and samurai heroes. As a member of the Utagawa school, Kuniyoshi gained renown for his “warrior prints,” or musha-e, a genre that is widely credited as a significant influence on modern-day manga comics. His breakthrough series The 108 Heroes of the Popular Suikoden, based on the 14th-century Chinese novel of the same name, catapulted Kuniyoshi to fame in 1827. Kuniyoshi worked across many pictorial genres during his career. His broad range of subjects included landscapes, courtesans, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. Kuniyoshi’s works can be found in international institutions, and his woodblock prints continue to serve as a source of inspiration for contemporary tattoo artists.