utagawa kunisada (歌川国貞) was born in 1786 in the honjō district of edo (present-day tokyo) into a wealthy family of ferry service owners. he began an apprenticeship with the head of the prestigious utagawa school of artists, toyokuni i, in 1807, and took the artist name kunisada to include the second character (国 - kuni) of his mentor's name. in 1844, kunisada succeeded his master as toyokuni iii (三代歌川豊国).