Urakusai Nagahide 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...

 style 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...

 who was active from about 1804 to about 1848. He is also known as Yūrakusai Nagahide (有楽斎　長秀), Nakamura Nagahide (中邑　長秀 or 中村　長秀), Chōshū (長秀), and as Chōshūsai (長秀斎). “Nagahide” and “Chōshū” are written with the same kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

. The ending “sai” means studio or hall, and is added or omitted at will by many Japanese artists.

Nagahide worked in both Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

 and 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...

. His early prints resemble those of his teacher Ryūkōsai Jokei

Ryukosai Jokei

Ryūkōsai Jokei was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints, painter, and illustrator in Osaka, who was active from about 1777 to 1809. He was a student of Shitomi Kangetsu , who in turn was the son and pupil of Tsukioka Settei . Ryūkōsai is considered to be either the founder or...

, but were also influenced by Shōkōsai Hanbei. Such a radical change occurred in Nagahide’s style that some scholars believe that the body of works signed “Nagahide” may actually have been created by two different artists. From the 1810s to the 1830s, Nagahide was the most prolific designer of stencil

Stencil

A stencil is a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material. The key advantage of a stencil is that it can be reused to...

 prints (kappazuri

Kappazuri

Kappazuri, also known as kappa-zuri, kappazuri-e, and as katagamizuri-e, are Japanese prints printed in a single color from woodblocks and then colored by stenciling. Prints produced entirely by stenciling, without woodblocks, are also called kappazuri...

) depicting the annual costume parade in the Gion

Gion

is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine...

 district of Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

, and he continued producing kappazuri

Kappazuri

Kappazuri, also known as kappa-zuri, kappazuri-e, and as katagamizuri-e, are Japanese prints printed in a single color from woodblocks and then colored by stenciling. Prints produced entirely by stenciling, without woodblocks, are also called kappazuri...

 long after full-color woodblock prints (nishiki-e

Nishiki-e

refers to Japanese multi-colored woodblock printing; this technique is used primarily in ukiyo-e. It was invented in the 1760s, and perfected and popularized by the printmaker Suzuki Harunobu, who produced a great many nishiki-e prints between 1765 and his death five years later.Previously, most...

) had become the standard for 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...

. His students include Nagashige, Hidekatsu, Hidekuni, Hidemari, and Naniwa Nagakuni.

External links

• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: digitized print