Often called the “father of ukiyo-e,” Moronobu Hishikawa was a 17th-century innovator of woodblock print design. While some may credit him as the founder of ukiyo-e, this is not entirely accurate. Instead, his strong line and graphic style represents the first mature form of ukiyo-e, consolidating earlier styles and setting the standard for artists to come. Moronobu’s prints play with parody and literary themes, taking established tales and framing them in the world of Edo. These early works laid a foundation for the basic styles and popular genres of ukiyo-e that flourished over the following centuries.

The son of a respected artisan in Awa province, Moronobu Hishikawa was born Moronobu Furuyama. He began his artistic career drawing embroidery patterns with his father, a textile dyer and embroiderer. In 1658, Moronobu moved to Edo to apprentice in painting, where he studied mostly under the Tosa school, but also dabbled in Kano, Hasegawa, and genre painting, largely depicting bijin (beautiful women) in profile. As he turned to the woodblock medium he became a prolific illustrator. His first known book is signed and dated to 1672. Though Moronobu produced around 100 ehon (illustrated books), many albums of shunga (erotic prints), and single-sheet prints depicting the pleasure-filled world of Edo, the majority of these woodblock prints are unsigned and very few of the single prints survive today.