Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-89) was only six years old when he joined the school of the great Ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi, along with such fellow pupils as Yoshitoshi. Kyosai would embrace many styles and methods during his artistic career. His eclectic approach may also be attributable to a legendary sake-drinking habit, which could account for the more bizarre extremes of his chosen subject matter. Kyosai can now be regarded as not only one of the last true Ukiyo-e masters, but also as one of the first truly modernist painters of Japan.