Utagawa Kuniyoshi -And his daughters

Not just another Utagawa Kuniyoshi exhibition

Ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi is rapidly gaining popularity for his vibrant pictures of samurai warriors and humorous parody pictures. Today, exhibitions of his works are held all over Japan. However, this exhibition hosted by Ota Memorial Museum of Art, which specializes in ukiyo-e, goes above and beyond. Introduced in addition to the great number of Kuniyoshi’s representative works are the works by Kuniyoshi’s two daughters, which received little attention until today.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi “Takiyasha-hime Summoning a Skeleton at the Haunted Old Palace at Sōma”

Utagawa Kuniyoshi “Chinzei Hachirō Tametomo Rescued by Bird Long-nosed Goblins”

Utagawa Kuniyoshi “One Hundred and Eight Heroes from Tales of the Water Margin: Rōrihakuchō Chōjun”

Utagawa Kuniyoshi “Scribbles on a Storehouse Wall”

Utagawa Kuniyoshi “View of Mitsumata in Edo”

Kuniyoshi’s daughters were also ukiyo-e artists!

Katsushika Hokusai’s daughter Katsushika Ōi is well known when we speak of the daughter of an ukiyo-e artist. However, Ōi is not the only painter as the daughter of an ukiyo-e artist. Utagawa Kuniyoshi had two daughters and both of them had worked as ukiyo-e artists. His first daughter Tori worked as “Yoshitori” and his second daughter Yoshi worked as “Yoshijyo”. Most of their works were adding small drawings on Kuniyoshi’s work. Since each of them has only one painting known to be entirely their own, it is hard to say that they were full-fledged painters. They worked on ukiyo-e prints mainly in their teens. We can imagine them striving to paint ukiyo-e prints and help their father.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi / Utagawa Yoshitori “Thirty-six Famous Restaurants in Edo: Mukōjima, Negiuri Tomoinosuke”

Utagawa Yoshitori “Both Faces Collection of Swords and Armors”

Utagawa Yoshijo “Festivals at Shin-zaimoku-Chō and Shin-norimono-chō in March”

A deep understanding of the history of ukiyo-e “Autumnfest of the Utagawa School”

At Ota Memorial Museum of Art, we will hold an exhibition of Utagawa Toyokuni, the master of Kuniyoshi in September, and an exhibition of ukiyo-e artists in the Meiji period including disciples of Kuniyoshi, such as Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, in November and December. Through the three exhibitions, you can trace the genealogy of the Utagawa school, inherited from Toyokuni to Kuniyoshi, and to Yoshitoshi. Ota Memorial Museum of Art, specializing in ukiyo-e brings to you this sequence of exhibitions for deeper understanding of the history of ukiyo-e.

• ①September 3rd-29th “Utagawa Toyokuni – A man who surpassed Sharaku”
• ②October 4th-27th “Utagawa Kuniyoshi -And his daughters”
• ③November 2nd- December 22nd “Last Ukiyoe -inheritors of ukiyo-e”