The son of a textile dyer in Edo, Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861) apprenticed under
Utagawa Toyokuni, where he received the "kuni" part of his name. He was an extremely skilled and prolific designer with over
2,000 designs that included single sheet works as well as triptychs. As well as producing bijin-ga (beauty pictures) and yakusha-e
(actor prints), he was instrumental in the development of warrior pictures (musha-e).
