Okumura Masanobu - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Okumura Masanobu was born in 1686 in Japan. His original name is Okumura Shinmyo. He was like any normal child was in his early adolescent life, however, as he grew older there was something noticeably different that made him stand out. He discovered the talent of artistry and at age 13 he was sent away to Edo Castle to become the main artist. As an artist there, he painted portraits for the court that consisted of shogun Tokugawa Tsunavoshi. There is little information about Masanobu’s childhood and family life however; records show that he became a published artist by the age of fifteen years old. He lived by the idea of being a self-taught artist; however, he did start out studying the works of Torii Kiyonobu. Kiyonobu is where Okumura Masanobu developed his love for Ukiyo-e and woodblock printing2. To this day, the Ukiyo-e school that Torii founded is still educating and working. It is actually the only known ukiyo-e school left still functioning. When Masanobu’s art started getting recognized, he changed his name again and also went by Genpachi. Genpachi is Okumura Masanobu’s common name that he used often. Besides from being an artist, in 1724 Okumura Masanobu became a publisher. He would publish illustrated and non illustrated books on the side of creating art pieces. Not only did he publish, he became an author and wrote fiction novels2. The writer that greatly influenced him into being a writer/illustrator was; Nishikawa Sukenobu. Okumura Masanobu lived his life to create beautiful and meaningful pieces of art, which he successfully accomplished.