Hirosada II, also known as Sadahiro II, was a designer of ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e

' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...

 Japanese woodblock prints

Woodblock printing in Japan

Woodblock printing in Japan is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only...

 in Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. He was a student of Konishi Hirosada

Konishi Hirosada

Konishi Hirosada , also known as Gosōtei Hirosada, was a designer of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints in Osaka. His artist name was originally Sadahiro , but he changed the sequence of syllables in 1847...

, and assumed the name “Hirosada” in 1853, when his teacher ceased designing prints. In the summer of 1864, Hirosada I died and his student changed his name, for a second time, from “Hirosada” (廣貞) to “Sadahiro” (貞廣).

Signature

Whereas the signature of Hirosada I is compact, Hirosada II signed his name in a large bold hand.