Katsukawa Shunsho, original name Katsumiyagawa Yusuke, was born in 1726 in Edo, Japan and was a painter and printmaker in the Ukiyo-e style. On many of his prints he used a jar-shaped seal enclosing the character hayashi, which earned him the nickname "Tsubo." Shunsho was very well-rounded as he designed many yakusha-e (actor prints), in the hosoban format, along with sumo-e (wrestler prints), musha-e (warrior prints), bijinga (beautiful women prints), both in single-sheet and ehon (picture book) format, and shunga (erotica), among his illustrated books. One of Shunsho's notable achievements involved revitalizing actor portraiture with the introduction of recognizable facial likenesses (nigao), which took the place of the earlier Torii artists who focused on more generalized features. Shunsho continued working until a few months before his death in 1793.
