Utagawa Toyokuni II
Illustration — "Toyokuni ga" (豊国画) signatures of (from left to right) Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II (Toyoshige) and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) Utagawa Utagawa Toyokuni II (1777–1835), also known as Toyoshige, was a designer of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints in Edo. He was also known as Gosotei Toyokuni or Hongo Toyokuni, the latter in reference to the district of Edo in which he lived, and over his career he also used the gō Ichibetsusai, Ichiesai and Ichiryūsai. He was the pupil, son-in-law and adopted son of Toyokuni I. The former used the name Toyoshige (豊重) until 1826, the year after his teacher's death, when the family gave him the right to use his teacher's name and he began signing his work Toyokuni (豊国).
Also recorded as Toyoshige · Ichiryûsai · Ichiyôsa · Mansuian
Utagawa Toyokuni II
Utagawa Toyokuni II · Private collection institution QS:P195,somevalue,P3831 · Public domain
- Born
- 1777
- Died
- 1835 · Edo.
- Nationality
- Japan
- Occupation
- painter · ukiyo-e artist
- Teachers
- Utagawa Toyokuni I
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — "Toyokuni ga" (豊国画) signatures of (from left to right) Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II (Toyoshige) and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) Utagawa Utagawa Toyokuni II (1777–1835), also known as Toyoshige, was a designer of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints in Edo. He was also known as Gosotei Toyokuni or Hongo Toyokuni, the latter in reference to the district of Edo in which he lived, and over his career he also used the gō Ichibetsusai, Ichiesai and Ichiryūsai. He was the pupil, son-in-law and adopted son of Toyokuni I. The former used the name Toyoshige (豊重) until 1826, the year after his teacher's death, when the family gave him the right to use his teacher's name and he began signing his work Toyokuni (豊国).
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Utagawa Toyokuni II. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
identity unresolved · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q3074993 · wikipedia · Utagawa Toyokuni II
In this article
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Eight Famous Views (Meisho Hakkei), Night Rain at Oyama (Maya Mountain), a woodblock print by Toyokuni II • Illustration — Three courtesans from the Tamaya house, c. 1828
Cited works
Cited works
• Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press.; OCLC 5246796 • Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei.; OCLC 61666175
Utagawa Toyokuni II, MET DP135539
Utagawa Toyokuni II · This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy
Night Rain at Ōyama, from the series Eight Famous Views of Kanagawa
Utagawa Toyokuni II · This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy
Legacy
Although Kunisada never recognised Toyoshige's right to the name Toyokuni, nevertheless Kunisada after 1844 is always referred to as Toyokuni III. Toyoshige's earliest known works date to 1823; he is remembered for his yakusha-e and bijinga, as well as his illustrations for gōkan. In the early 1830s he produced fine fūkeiga landscape prints, strongly inspired by Hokuju and Hokusai, and also created some paintings. Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II (Toyoshige), and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) each used the signature Toyokuni (豊国). The signature of Toyokuni II is easiest to distinguish by the chalice-shaped toyo (豊) kanji (see figure). Toyoshige's students include Utagawa Kunimatsu, Utagawa Kunishige II, Utagawa Kuniteru III, and Utagawa Kunitsuru I. Kunimatsu, born Wada Kunijirō, was the third son of Kunitsuru I and the younger brother of Kunitsuru II.
Training under Utagawa Toyokuni I is recorded. Utagawa Kunishige II and Utagawa Kunikume are recorded as having studied under Utagawa Toyokuni II. Work by Utagawa Toyokuni II is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria, Auckland Art Gallery, Finnish National Gallery, National Museum of World Cultures and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Works by Utagawa Toyokuni II are held in the Library of Congress, including the work The Sumo Wrestler Kagamiiwa of the West Side.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 03 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
18,452 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Utagawa Kunisada IIArtist
- Utagawa SadafusaArtist
- Utagawa SadahideArtist
- Utagawa Toyokuni IArtist
- Utagawa Yoshimune IIArtist
- Uthman TahaArtist
- Uttam NepaliArtist
- Utz RotheArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Utagawa Toyokuni II?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.