Yōshū Chikanobu

Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延) (1838–1912), better known to his contemporaries as Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延), was a prolific woodblock artist of Japan's Meiji period.

Chikanobu signed his artwork "Yōshū Chikanobu" (楊洲周延). This was his "art name" (作品名) sakuhinmei. The artist's "real name" (本名) honmyō was Hashimoto Naoyoshi (橋本直義); and it was published in his obituary.

Many of his earliest works were signed "studio of Yōshū Chikanobu" (楊洲齋周延) Yōshū-sai Chikanobu; a small number of his early creations were simply signed "Yōshū" (楊洲). At least one triptych from 12 Meiji (1879) exists signed "Yōshū Naoyoshi" (楊洲直義).

The portrait of the Emperor Meiji held by the British Museum is inscribed "drawn by Yōshū Chikanobu by special request" (應需楊洲周延筆) motome ni ōjite Yōshū Chikanobu hitsu.

No works have surfaced that are signed either "Toyohara Chikanobu" or "Hashimoto Chikanobu".

Chikanobu was a retainer of the Sakakibara clan of Takada Domain in Echigo Province. After the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, he joined the Shōgitai and fought in the Battle of Ueno.

He joined Tokugawa loyalists in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, where he fought in the Battle of Hakodate at the Goryōkaku star fort. He served under the leadership of Enomoto Takeaki and Ōtori Keisuke; and he achieved fame for his bravery.

Following the Shōgitai's surrender, he was remanded along with others to the authorities in the Takada domain.

In 1875 (Meiji 8), he decided to try to make a living as an artist. He travelled to Tokyo. He found work as an artist for the Kaishin Shimbun. In addition, he produced nishiki-e artworks. In his younger days, he had studied the Kanō school of painting; but his interest was drawn to ukiyo-e. He studied with a disciple of Keisai Eisen and then he joined the school of Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi; during this period, he called himself Yoshitsuru. After Kuniyoshi’s death, he studied with Kunisada. He also referred to himself as Yōshū.

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