Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a true son of Edo. Born near Nihonbashi in 1797, his father a dyer, he grew up among the hoi polloi in the crowded streets of the low city, where popular stories of tattooed otokodate, the revered ¡°street knights¡± of the kabuki stage, were capturing people¡¯s imagination. Bluff in behavior, loyal to his friends and generous to his pupils, he also had a well-known passion for cats, whom he often depicted lovingly and humorously in his work.

Kuniyoshi: Visionary of the Floating World, Edited by Rossella Menegazzo.
215 pages
SKIRA, Art.

¡®Octopus¡¯ (¡¯Tako,¡¯ c. 1842) from the series ¡®Cats Forming Written Characters¡¯ | UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI