Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806)is probably the most well-known ukiyoe artist among all masters of the Floating World. Utamaro was first a student of Toriyama Sekien, and he initially used the name Toyoaki and changed to Utamaro only later. Utamaro's career reached its height in the Tenmei and Kansei eras (1781-1801).
Utamaro's manner of depicting woman gained its full maturity in the okubi-e, or neck prints, which show just the faces of the figures. Beautiful women's bodies and cloths were omitted from okubi-e to emphasize the beauty of women's faces. Utamaro depicted brothel women, women of mizu jaya, "water tea house". Chobunsai Eishi, who was of samurai class and then turned into an ukiyoe artist, was a well-known competitor for Utamaro.
