Utagawa Kunimasu

Woodblock print by Utagawa Kunimasu of actor Ichikawa Ebizō V as Kaminari in the kabuki play Otokodate Itsutsu Karigane, 1850

Signatures of Utagawa Kunimasu reading “Sadamasu ga” (貞升 画　left) and “Kunimasu ga” (国升 画 center & right)

Utagawa Kunimasu (歌川　国升, Utagawa Kunimasu) was a Japanese designer of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints in Osaka who was active from about 1832 to 1852. He used the name Sadamasu (貞升) until the first month of 1848, when he changed his name to Kunimasu (国升).

Kunimasu was a student of Utagawa Kunisada. The former's students include Hirosada I, Utagawa Sadamasu II, and probably Hasegawa Sadanobu I.

References

• Keyes, Roger S. & Keiko Mizushima, The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973, 269.
• Lane, Richard, Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print, New York, Putnam, 1978, 295.
• Newland, Amy Reigle, The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Amsterdam, Hotei Publishing, 2005, Vol. 2, 503.