Hirosada (1810-1864)

Very little is known about Konishi Hirosada's life. He was born around 1810 (or possibly 1819), and at some point (possibly 1847) he changed his name from Sadahiro to Hirosada, possibly to escape censorship. He was a student of Kunimasu Utagawa, a master of ukiyo-e, a type of Japanese print popular in the Edo period [17th - 19th centuries]. The ukiyo-e school was founded in the 17th century in Osaka, Japan and specialized in colorful and dramatic prints depicting sumo wrestlers), women, landscapes, and scenes from the new style of theatre called kabuki. After 1867, when Japan established trade with Europe, the prints became well known in other parts of the world as well.