Artist –"Kawanabe KYŌSAI" ("河鍋 暁斎" and "河鍋 狂斎", 1831 –1889) was a Japanese artist, an individualist and an independent, supposed to be the last virtuoso in traditional Japanese painting. KYŌSAI" is known as one of the first political caricaturists of Japan. His work mirrored his life in its wild and undisciplined nature, and occasionally reflected his love of drinking. Although he did not possess Hokusai's dignity, power or reticence, he compensated with a fantastic exuberance, which always lent interest to his technically excellent draughtsmanship. In addition to his caricatures, KYŌSAI painted a large number of pictures and sketches, often choosing subjects from the folklore of his country, Nô drama, nature and religion, for example. Living through the Edo period to the Meiji period, KYŌSAI witnessed Japan transform itself from a feudal country into a modern state.

In 1837 young KYŌSAI was introduced to Kunisada and became his disciple. Because his father was worried about the behavior of Kunisada's main disciple Kuniyoshi, young KYŌSAI was introduced to Maemura Horawa (前村洞和) of the Kano school (Kanō-ha, 狩野 派) one of the most famous schools of Japanese traditional painting. Horawa was amazed by the talent of young KYOSAI and named him "Sketching Devil" ("ga oni", "画鬼"). In 1847 KYŌSAI's family lost the firefighter's mansion to a fire. It is handed down, that KYŌSAI sketched the fire and ruins. He graduated from apprenticeship at the Kano school in 1850, but soon abandoned the formal traditions for the greater freedom of the popular school. KYŌSAI's earliest signed work is from 1848. He had some intermezzi with the Tosa, Rimpa, and Shijo schools, but more or less independently followed his own intensions.
From 1869 to 1872 KYŌSAI was involved in the making of the album "Journey through Hell and Heaven» (Jigoku gokuraku meguri zu), which was created for his patron, in memory of his daughter, who died at an early age. The works were filled with a sense of humor and were intended to show that the patron's daughter, dying, takes part in the Festival of the underworld, which is populated by exceptionally beautiful and talented people.

During the political ferment which produced and followed the revolution of 1867, KYŌSAI attained a reputation as a caricaturist. His very long painting on makimono (horizontal hand scrolls) "The Battle of the Farts" may be seen as a caricature of this ferment. He was arrested at least three times and imprisoned by the authorities of the shogunate. Soon after the assumption of effective power by the Emperor, a great congress of painters and men of letters was held at which KYŌSAI was present. He again expressed his opinion of the new movement in a caricature, which had a great popular success, but also brought him into the hands of the police, this time of the opposite party.

KYŌSAI changed the first character of his name from "狂" (wild, crazy) to "暁" (dawn, enlightenment), after one of his several releases from prison. "暁" has two On-readings, "kyō" and "gyō", the latter being more well-known, so the artist's name is sometimes also falsely romanised as "Kawanabe Gyōsai".


Personal life -  KYŌSAI was born on May 18th in 1831 in Furukawa City, former Ibaraki prefecture, today Shimosa (下総), a town located in Katori District, Chiba Prefecture. During the Edo period, the area of present-day Shimofusa, was a province of Japan in the area of modern day Chiba and Ibaraki Prefecture. He was born as the second son of KAWANABE KimigiEmon and his wife Kiyo, both of lower nobility (samurai) to followers of the Furukawa clan. His childhood name was ShūSaburō (周三郎). In 1833 the family settled in Edo in a firefighters mansion, that was lost in a fire in 1847.

In 1857, just two years after the devastating Kanto earthquake, he married (Ō)Kiyoshi (お 清), the second daughter of Suzuki Kiichi (鈴木其一), then the master of the famous Rimpa school in Edo (Edo rinpa , 江戸琳派). The marriage made him finacially independent, and he was able to open his own workshop. In 1860, he became the father of his first son Shozaburo. In the later course of his life, he was married to three other wives .On April 26th in 1889 he died of gastric cancer, and was interred at Yanaka Graveyard (Yanaka Bochi, 谷中墓地) with a natural tombstone similar to the frog he preferably used to draw.


Aliases - KYŌSAI's childhood name was "Shū Saburō" ("周三郎"). His main artist's name was "Kawanabe KYŌSAI" ("河鍋 暁斎" and "河鍋 狂斎"). He used his ga-name sometimes with different epithets , quite often as "Ichiyûsai KYŌSAI" ("一勇斎 暁斎"). KYŌSAI changed the first character of his name from "狂" (wild, crazy) to "暁" (dawn, enlightenment), after one of his several releases from prison. "暁" has two On-readings, "kyō" and "gyō", the latter being more well-known, so the artist's name is sometimes also falsely romanised as "Kawanabe Gyōsai".

KYOSAI used a lot of more epithets, like Tōiku (Tōyū) 洞郁, Baiga 売画, Baiga Dōjin 売画道人,Baiga Kyōsha 売画狂者 (狂者 insane person), Chikamaro 周麿 (until 1863), Gaki 画鬼, Hata Kyōsha 畑狂者, Kyōsha Gaishi 狂者外史, Nyokū (Jokū) Nyūdō 如空入堂, Raisui 雷酔 ("thunderstruck drunk"), Shōshōan (Seiseian) 猩々庵 (惺々庵), Shōshō (Shōjō) Kyōsai 猩々狂斎 (猩々heavy drinker), Shōshōsai (Seiseisai) 猩々斎, Shuransai 酒乱斎 (酒乱 drunken frenzy), Suiraibō 酔雷坊. Note that the epithets Shōshō, Shōjō and Seisei are all written 惺々.


Disciples -  About 22 disciples are known, among them his second son and his eldest daughter.Other disciples were Yoshimori Umino (海野美盛, 1864-1919), Nagai Ichinogi (長井一禾, 1869-1940) and the illustrious Josiah Conder (昆徳爾 or ジョサイア・コンドル, 1852-1920) named "the Father Of Japanese Modern Architecture 1852-1920, as well as Kashima Samurai (鹿島暁雨) also named Kashima Seibei (清兵衛）(1866-1924) named "Patron of Japanese Photography" and famous for his mysterious gold treasure.