Toyokuni II, born Utagawa Toyoshige, was a Japanese painter and illustrator of the Ukiyo-e style. He lived and worked in Edo as a pottery dealier. Pupil and son-in-law to Toyokuni the Elder, he adopted the name Toyokuni II after the death of his master in 1825. He was challenged by many of his master's other followers not to take this name, and would in later years resume his true name of Toyoshige. His prints of actors in Toyokuni's manner are ofter confused with the master's work and in themselves have little merit. But in his landscape series, which owes much to Hokuju and Hokusai, he can be compared to the great master Hiroshige. He also illustrated storybooks.
Bibliography:
Laurance P. Roberts, A Dictonary of Japanese Artists, 1976.
