Name used by members of a school of Japanese painters, woodblock print designers and book illustrators. They are known for their work in the ukiyoe (‘pictures of the floating world’) genre (see JAPAN, §§VI, 4(iv)(b) and IX, 2(iii)). The school was founded by (1) Utagawa Toyoharu, who moved from Kyoto to Edo (now Tokyo), where he set up a woodblock print studio. His leading pupils were (2) Toyokuni I and (4) Toyohiro. Both artists designed bijinga (‘pictures of beautiful women’), but around 1800 Toyokuni began to produce yakushae (‘pictures of actors’) that eclipsed those of the KATSUKAWA school. Other important Utagawa artists include (5) Kunisada I, the master of the landscape print, ANDO HIROSHIGE, (3) Kunimasa and (6) Kuniyoshi. The Utagawa school was the most prolific in the field of printmaking, accounting for over half of Japan’s extant ukiyoe prints. The lineage continued into the modern period in the work of Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878–1973) and Ito Shinsui (1898–1972).

The following members have entries:

• (1) Utagawa Toyoharu [Masaki; Tajimaya Shojiro, Shinemon; Ichiryusai, Senryusai]
• (2) Utagawa Toyokuni I [Kurahashi Kumakichi; Ichiyosai]
• (3) Utagawa Kunimasa [Jinsuke; Ichijusai]
• (4) Utagawa Toyohiro [Okajima Tojiro; Ichiryusai]
• (5) Utagawa Kunisada I [Sumida Shozo; Gototei, Ichiyosai, Gepparo, Kinraisha, Kochoro, Toyokuni III, Hanabusa Ittei, Fucho, Sanjin, Kio, Bukiyo Matahei]
• (6) Utagawa Kuniyoshi [Igusa Yoshisaburo, Magosaburo; Ichiyusai, Chooro]