Who Was Utagawa Kuniyoshi? Major Works of the Ukiyo-e Master of Warriors, Cats and Giant Skeletons, and Where to See Them

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was an ukiyo-e artist active in the late Edo period. He worked across warrior prints, landscapes, pictures of beautiful women, actor prints and caricatures, and his playful ideas and compositions that seem to burst out of the frame have earned him the label “a painter of fantastic ideas.” Here is an overview of his life and major works, the wit with which he dodged the Tenpo Reforms, and where you can encounter his prints and video installations now.

Kuniyoshi’s life: popularity found around the age of 30

Born in 1797 to a dyer’s family in Nihonbashi, Edo, he became a pupil of the popular artist Utagawa Toyokuni I in his teens. While his senior fellow pupil Utagawa Kunisada won acclaim for actor prints and pictures of beautiful women, Kuniyoshi is said to have had little notable work throughout his twenties.

His breakthrough came with the series “One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Suikoden,” issued from around 1827. Depicting the heroes of the Chinese novel “Water Margin” one per sheet with tremendous force, the series was a hit and earned him the nickname “Kuniyoshi of the warrior prints.” He kept pursuing new forms of expression in landscapes, caricatures and large three-sheet compositions, and died in 1861.

Major works

One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Suikoden (from around 1827)

A series of warrior prints portraying the heroes of “Water Margin” with muscular bodies, vivid tattoos and dramatic movement. Riding the popularity of “Water Margin” at the time, it quickly spread Kuniyoshi’s name.

View of Mitsumata in the Eastern Capital (around 1831)

A view of the Mitsumata area of the Sumida River from his “Eastern Capital” series, which adopted the shading of Western painting. It is also known for drawing attention in recent years because a tall, thin tower in the distance resembles Tokyo Skytree.

Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre (around 1845–46)

A large three-sheet composition showing a giant skeleton, summoned by sorcery by Princess Takiyasha, daughter of Taira no Masakado, attacking Oya no Taro Mitsukuni. The skeleton’s anatomy is said to have been based on a Western anatomy book, and it is one of Kuniyoshi’s most popular works (see 12 famous ukiyo-e prints).

Miyamoto Musashi and the Giant Whale

A three-sheet print showing the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi astride a giant whale, plunging his sword into it. Also known as “Miyamoto Musashi Killing a Giant Whale,” it is notable for its bold composition, in which the whale’s body stretches across all three sheets.

Cats: “Cats Forming Characters” and “The Fifty-three Cats of the Ailurophile”

Kuniyoshi was known as a great lover of cats and left many works featuring them. Representative examples include “Cats Forming Characters” (around 1842–43), in which cats’ bodies combine to form words such as “katsuo” (bonito) and “namazu” (catfish), and “Puns Just Like This: The Fifty-three Cats of the Ailurophile” (around 1847–52), a visual pun turning the station names of the Tokaido road into cat-related words.

He Looks Fierce, but He’s Really a Nice Person

A composite portrait in which many human bodies are gathered to form one large face. Together with its punning title, it shows Kuniyoshi’s humor at its best.

The wit that dodged the Tenpo Reforms

Under the Tenpo Reforms that began in 1841, crackdowns on luxury and public morals intensified, and prints of actors and courtesans were severely restricted. Kuniyoshi responded with ingenuity, such as borrowing the forms of animals and caricatures, and his 1843 print “The Earth Spider Conjures Demons at the Mansion of Minamoto no Yorimitsu” is said to have been rumored in Edo to be a satire of the shogunate’s senior councillors who pushed the reforms.

Kuniyoshi’s pupils

Kuniyoshi’s studio produced Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, a leading ukiyo-e artist of the Meiji era, as well as Ochiai Yoshiiku and others. Kawanabe Kyosai is also known to have studied under Kuniyoshi as a child.

Where to encounter Kuniyoshi’s works and video installations

• Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, “Playing in the Ukiyo” (Machida, Tokyo, until November 23): Traces some 250 works, from caricatures by Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi to late-Edo satirical prints and Meiji “enlightenment” prints (see our beginner’s guide to ukiyo-e).

• Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, “New! Ukiyo-e Exhibition” (Kobe, March 20 – May 23, 2027): Brings together more than 120 late-Edo and Meiji ukiyo-e by Kuniyoshi, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and others (see our article on the exhibition).

• Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU (Gifu City Museum of History, until January 11, 2027): Video spaces based on more than 300 works by ukiyo-e artists including Kuniyoshi (see our article on the exhibition).

• Emado at Senso-ji (Taito-ku, Tokyo): Houses about 50 large votive paintings by Kuniyoshi and others. In 2026 they were shown in a special viewing from October 30 to November 3 (see our article on the special viewing).

“KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART,” a video installation based on more than 50 of Kuniyoshi’s prints, was shown as part of the “Utagawa Kuniyoshi” exhibitions at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in 2025 and at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art in 2026 (both have ended). It animated works such as “Miyamoto Musashi and the Giant Whale” and “Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre” with 3DCG animation and projection mapping.

Frequently asked questions

What are Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s best-known works?

Well-known works include the warrior-print series “One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Suikoden,” “Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre” with its giant skeleton, “Miyamoto Musashi and the Giant Whale,” the cat-themed “The Fifty-three Cats of the Ailurophile,” and the composite portrait “He Looks Fierce, but He’s Really a Nice Person.”

Why did Kuniyoshi draw so many cats?

Kuniyoshi was known as a great lover of cats and left many works featuring them, such as “Cats Forming Characters,” in which cats’ bodies form words, a print turning the Tokaido station names into cat-related puns, and pictures of cats cast as kabuki actors.

Is it true that Tokyo Skytree appears in a Kuniyoshi print?

A tall, thin tower in “View of Mitsumata in the Eastern Capital” (around 1831) drew attention for resembling Tokyo Skytree. Of course, there was no Skytree in the Edo period; it is a fun coincidence.

Where can I see Kuniyoshi’s works?

Options include “Playing in the Ukiyo” at the Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts (until November 23) and the “New! Ukiyo-e Exhibition” opening at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in March 2027. Ukiyo-e museums display works on rotation, so check each museum’s schedule if there is a particular print you want to see.

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART” and the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” introduced in this article are, respectively, an installation produced by and an event planned and produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).

For the latest information on events by HITOHATA, INC., see HITOHATA, INC.’s event page.

*Top image: “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART in Utagawa Kuniyoshi exhibition” (from HITOHATA, INC.’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements from museums and organizers (as of November 9, 2026) and general art-historical knowledge of Utagawa Kuniyoshi.