Editing Utamaro (section)

==Biography==

[[File:Yamanba and kintaro sakazuki.jpg|thumb|Ukiyo-e of [[yama-uba]] with blackened teeth and [[Kintarō]] (Yamanba and Kintaro Sakazuki series)]]

[[File:Maple Leaves Koyo and Shamisen by Kitagawa Utamaro c1803.png|thumb|''Flowers of Edo: Young Woman's Narrative Chanting to the [[Shamisen]]'' c. 1803]]

===Early life===

Little is known of Utamaro's life. He was born '''Kitagawa Ichitarō'''{{efn|{{Nihongo||{{not a typo|北川}}市太郎|Kitagawa Ichitarō}}; note the spelling 北川 differs from the spelling 喜多川 Utamaro used as an artist.{{sfn|Gotō|1975|p=74}} }} in {{circa|1753}}.{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=10}}  As an adult, he was known by the given names Yūsuke,{{efn|{{Nihongo||勇助|Yūsuke}}{{sfn|Gotō|1975|p=74}} }} and later Yūki.{{efn|{{Nihongo||勇記|Yūki}}{{sfn|Gotō|1975|p=74}} }}{{sfnm|1a1=Gotō|1y=1975|1p=74|2a1=Kobayashi|2y=1982|2p=72}}  Early accounts have given his birthplace as Kyoto, Osaka, [[Yoshiwara]] in [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]] (modern Tokyo), or [[Kawagoe, Saitama|Kawagoe]] in [[Musashi Province]] (modern [[Saitama Prefecture]]); none of these places has been verified.  The names of his parents are not known; it has been suggested his father may have been a Yoshiwara teahouse owner, or [[Toriyama Sekien]],{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=10}} an artist who tutored him{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=72}} and who wrote of Utamaro playing in his garden as a child.{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=10}}

Apparently, Utamaro married, although little is known about his wife and there is no record of their having had children. There are, however, many prints of tender and intimate domestic scenes featuring the same woman and child over several years of the child's growth among his works.

===Apprenticeship and early work===

Sometime during his childhood Utamaro came under the tutelage of Sekien, who described his pupil as bright and devoted to art.{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=72}}  Sekien, although trained in the upper-class [[Kanō school]] of [[Japanese painting]], had become in middle age a practitioner of [[ukiyo-e]] and his art was aimed at the townspeople in [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]].  His students included [[haiku]] poets and ukiyo-e artists such as [[Eishōsai Chōki]].{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|pp=72–73}}

Utamaro's first published work may be an illustration of [[eggplant]]s in the ''[[haikai]]'' poetry anthology ''Chiyo no Haru''{{efn|{{lang|ja|千代の春}} ''{{Transliteration|ja|Chiyo no haru}}'', "Eternal Spring"}} published in 1770.  His next known works appear in 1775 under the name Kitagawa Toyoaki,{{efn|{{Nihongo||北川豊章|Kitagawa Toyoaki}}; "{{lang|ja|北川豊章}}" may also read "Toyoakira".{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=74}} }}{{sfn|Marks|2012|p=76}}—the cover to a [[kabuki]] playbook entitled ''Forty-eight Famous Love Scenes''{{efn|{{Nihongo|'' Forty-eight Famous Loves Scenes'',|四十八手 恋所訳|Shijū Hatte Koi no Showake}} }} which was distributed at the Edo playhouse [[Nakamura-za]].{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=74}}  As Toyoaki, Utamaro continued as an illustrator of popular literature for the rest of the decade, and occasionally produced single-sheet ''{{Transliteration|ja|yakusha-e}}'' portraits of kabuki actors.{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=75}}

The young, ambitious publisher [[Tsutaya Jūzaburō]] enlisted Utamaro and in the autumn of 1782 the artist hosted a lavish banquet whose list of guests included artists such as Kiyonaga, [[Kitao Shigemasa]], and [[Katsukawa Shunshō]], as well as writers such as [[Ōta Nanpo]] (1749–1823)and {{Interlanguage link|Hōseidō Kisanji|ja|3=平沢常富}}. It was at this banquet that it is believed the artist first announced his new art name, ''Utamaro''. Per custom, he distributed a specially made print for the occasion, in which, before a screen bearing the names of his guests, is a self-portrait of Utamaro making a deep bow.{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=76}}

Utamaro's first work for Tsutaya appeared in a publication dated as 1783: ''The Fantastic Travels of a Playboy in the Land of Giants'',{{efn|{{Nihongo|Migi no Tōri Tashika ni Uso Shikkari Gantori-chō|右通慥而啌多雁取帳|}}{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=76}} }} a ''{{Transliteration|ja|[[kibyōshi]]}}'' picture book created in collaboration with his friend Shimizu Enjū, a writer.{{efn|{{Nihongo||志水燕十|Shimizu Enjū}} }} In the book, Tsutaya described the pair as making their debuts.{{efn|Utamaro and Enjū appeared to have worked on a previous book together during 1781: {{Nihongo|''A Short History of the Sartorial Exploits of a Great Connoisseur of Inari Machi''|身貌大通神略縁起|Minari Daitsūjin Ryakuengi}}, which Utamaro signed as "Utamaro, Dilettante of Shinobugaoka".  {{Interlanguage link|Kiyoshi Shibui|ja|3=渋井清}} suggests the publication of the work may have been delayed.{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=79}} }}{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|pp=76, 79}}

At some point in the mid-1780s, probably 1783, he went to live with Tsutaya Jūzaburō. It is estimated that he lived there for approximately five years. He seems to have become a principal artist for the Tsutaya firm. Evidence of his prints for the next few years is sporadic, as he mostly produced illustrations for books of ''[[kyōka]]'' ("crazy verse"), a parody of the classical [[waka (poetry)|''waka'']] form. None of his work produced during the period 1790–1792 has survived.

===Height of fame===

In about 1791 Utamaro gave up designing prints for books and concentrated on making single portraits of women displayed in half-length, rather than the prints of women in groups favoured by other ukiyo-e artists.

In 1793 he achieved recognition as an artist, and his semi-exclusive arrangement with the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō ended. Utamaro then went on to produce several series of well-known works, all featuring women of the [[Yoshiwara]] district.

Over the years, he also created a number of volumes of animal, insect, and nature studies and ''[[Shunga (art)|shunga]]'', or [[erotica]]. Shunga prints were quite acceptable in Japanese culture, not associated with a negative concept of pornography as found in western cultures, but considered rather as a natural aspect of human behavior and circulated among all levels of Japanese society.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hayakawa|first1=Monta|last2=Gerstle|first2=C. Andrew|date=2013|title=Who Were the Audiences for "Shunga?"|journal=Japan Review|volume=26|pages=17–36}}</ref>

===Later life===

Tsutaya Jūzaburō died in 1797, and Utamaro thereafter lived in Kyūemon-chō, then Bakuro-chō, and finally near the Benkei Bridge.{{sfn|Goncourt|Locey|Locey|2012|p=11}}  Utamaro was apparently very upset by the loss of his long-time friend and supporter. Some commentators feel that after this event, his work never reached the heights previously attained.{{who|date=December 2015}}

A law went into effect in 1790 requiring prints to bear a censor's seal of approval to be sold.  Censorship increased in strictness over the following decades, and violators could receive harsh punishments.  From 1799 even preliminary drafts required approval.{{sfn|Michener|1954|p=231}}  A group of Utagawa-school offenders including [[Utagawa Toyokuni|Toyokuni]] had their works repressed in 1801.{{sfn|Lane|1962|p=224}}  In 1804, Utamaro ran into legal trouble over a series of prints of [[samurai]] warriors, with their names slightly disguised; the depiction of warriors, their names, and [[Mon (emblem)|their crests]] was forbidden at the time.  Records have not survived of what sort of punishment Utamaro received.{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=30}}

====Arrest of 1804====

The {{Interlanguage link|Ehon Taikōki|ja|絵本太閤記|lt=''Ehon Taikōki''}},{{efn|{{lang|ja|絵本太閤記}} ''{{Transliteration|ja|Ehon Taikōki}}'', "Illustrated Chronicles of the Regent"; seven parts in eighty-four volumes; text by Takeuchi Kakusai, based on an early ''Taikōki'' by Ose Hoan; illustrations by Okada Gyokuzan{{sfn|Davis|2007|pp=281–282}} }} published from 1797 to 1802, detailed the life of the 16th-century military ruler, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]].  The work was widely adapted, such as for [[kabuki]] and [[bunraku]] theatre.  When artists and writers put out prints and books based on the ''Ehon Taikōki'' in the disparaged ''ukiyo-e'' style, it attracted reprisals from the government.  In probably the most famous case of censorship of the Edo period,{{sfn|Davis|2007|pp=281–282}} Utamaro was imprisoned in 1804,{{efn|23 June 1804, according to [[Ōta Nanpo]]'s diary{{sfn|Davis|2007|p=290}} }} after which he was manacled along with Tsukimaro, Toyokuni, [[Shuntei]], [[Katsukawa Shun'ei|Shun'ei]], and [[Jippensha Ikku]] for fifty days and their publishers subjected to heavy fines.{{sfn|Davis|2007|p=292}}

Government documents of the case are no longer extant, and there are few other documents relating to the incident.  It appears that Utamaro was most prominent of the group.  The artists might have offended the authorities by identifying the historical figures by name and with their identifying crests and other symbols, which was prohibited, and by depicting Hideyoshi with prostitutes{{efn|{{lang|ja|遊女}} ''yūjo''}} of the pleasure quarters.{{sfn|Davis|2007|pp=289–291}}  Utamaro's censored prints include one of the ''[[daimyō]]'' [[Katō Kiyomasa]] lustily gazing at a Korean dancer at a party,{{sfn|Davis|2007|p=304}} another of Hideyoshi holding the hand of his page [[Ishida Mitsunari]] in a sexually suggestive manner,{{sfn|Davis|2007|p=305}} and another of Hideyoshi with his five consorts viewing the cherry blossoms at the temple [[Daigo-ji]] in Kyoto, a historical event famous for displaying Hideyoshi's extravagance.  This last displays the names of each consort while placing them in the typical poses of courtesans at a Yoshiwara party.{{sfn|Davis|2007|pp=306–308}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="230px" caption="Utamaro prints censored in 1804">
Utamaro (c. 1802–04) Katō Kiyomasa.jpg|[[Katō Kiyomasa]] at a party with Korean dancers
Utamaro (c. 1802–04) Taikō gosai rakutō yūzan no zu.jpg|''Hideyoshi and his Five Wives Viewing the Cherry-blossoms at Higashiyama''
</gallery>

===Death===

Records give Utamaro's death date as the 20th day of the 9th month of the year [[Bunka]], which equates to 31 October 1806.{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=10}}  He was given the Buddhist [[posthumous name]] Shōen Ryōkō Shinshi.{{efn|{{Nihongo||秋円了教信士|Shōen Ryōkō Shinshi}}{{sfn|Gotō|1975|p=74}} }}{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=93}}  Apparently with no heirs, his tomb at the temple {{Interlanguage link|Senkōji|ja|3=専光寺 (世田谷区北烏山)}} was left untended. A century later, in 1917, admirers of Utamaro had the decayed grave repaired.{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=93}}