Sūgakudō Nakayama Galleries

Sūgakudō is thought to have been a student of the famous nineteenth century artist Hiroshige Utagawa but not much else is known about him. In 1859 Sūgakudō authored a woodblock-printed picture book of flowers and birds with the surprising title Exact Likeness of Forty-Eight Hawks (Shō Utsushi Shijū-hachi Taka). Only one of the forty-eight birds was actually a hawk and none of the birds or flowers depicted was an exact likeness. However, the pictures are still very entertaining and the yellow picture border is certainly eye-catching. All forty-eight pictures are included in this gallery. Click on the book's title below to see the pictures. Yoshitsuna Utagawa was inspired by Sūgakudō's picture book and redrew nineteen of Sūgakudō's designs for inclusion in an undated picture book entitled Complete Picture Book of Flowers and Birds (Ehon Kachō Soroi). Click on the books's title below to see the nineteen pictures.