Utagawa, (Tsunoda) Kunisada (1786-1865) was an ukiyo-e–style woodblock print artist born in 1786 in the Honjo district of Edo. At age fourteen, Kunisada became a student of Utagawa Toyokuni I in the prestigious Utagawa School. Over the next seven years, Kunisada studied Utagawa-style painting techniques and produced a variety of prints depicting kabuki actors, bijin-ga, shunga (erotica), samurai warriors, sumo wrestlers, and historical battles. With prodigious talent, Kunisada became an overnight sensation. 

After publishing an illustrated book of actor print in 1808, his popularity spread like wildfire throughout the capital. In less than a decade, he had become one of the most popular and commercially successful ukiyo-e artists in Edo. Kunisada continued to paint, publish, and illustrate various works until the death of his mentor in 1825 prompted him to take over as head of the Utagawa School. In 1828, he began collaborating with artist Utagawa Hiroshige and, for the next three decades, supplied figures in Hiroshige's landscape print series. During this same period, Kunisada also provided illustrations for Ryūtei Tanehiko's edition of The Tale of Genji from 1829-1842, arguably one of his most significant contributions. In 1844, Kunisada honored his former master by assuming the name Toyokuni III. Four years later, he took on an apprentice, Toyohara Kunichika, whom he taught nigao-e, or "realistic" actor prints. 

During the final phase of his career, Toyokuni III published the highly successful series Stories of Notable Women Past and Present in 1861. He passed away three years later on January 12, 1865, at the age of seventy. With a total output of nearly twenty thousand prints, Utagawa, Kunisada (otherwise known as Toyokuni III), was perhaps one of the most prolific and popular ukiyo-e artists of his generation.