Two Kabuki actors as Hanako and Sakuragi, Shirabyoshi (female dancers), and two others as Seitaka-bo (monk) and Kongara-bo from the Kabuki play Ninin Dōjōji

Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865; born in Edo) was a pupil of Utagawa Toyokuni I. In his later years, Toyokuni had developed a style characterized by sharply angular faces and figures with hunched backs and thick necks, and Kunisada pushed this manner even further, to the point that he came to be regarded as having completed the Utagawa style. In the late Edo period, when ukiyo-e subjects expanded to include landscapes and bird-and-flower images, Kunisada concentrated primarily on actor prints and bijinga (pictures of beauties), and was thus often viewed as an artist who upheld the mainstream traditions of ukiyo-e.

Around 1811 Kunisada began using the art name Gototei, derived from his family’s ferry business and its location, during which period he produced distinctive ōkubi-e (large-head portraits) of both actors and beauties that vividly captured contemporary Edo fashions. He later adopted the name Kōchōrō, showing his admiration for Hanabusa Itchō, before succeeding to the name Toyokuni II (although in fact he was the third Toyokuni, and is therefore usually referred to today as Toyokuni III).
Over the course of his career, he produced an estimated 10,000 works—the most prolific output of any ukiyo-e artist. While this enormous production included some formulaic designs and mannerisms, the wealth of works he created remains an invaluable resource for understanding kabuki plays and the customs of Edo society.