Inoue Yasuji (井上安治; 1864 - September 14, 1889), also written 安次, also often known as Inoue Tankei (探景), was a woodblock ukiyo-e artist of the Meiji era. A promising artist, he left behind a celebrated corpus despite his relatively short life. Inoue was born in Asakusa, Edo (Tokyo) and was frequently sick in childhood, finding solace in painting. He quickly developed artistic skill and briefly apprenticed under Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年; 1839 - 1892) before becoming the main disciple of Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親; 1847 - 1915), who is often considered the last master of the art of ukiyo-e. Beginning around 1880, Inoue began producing proper ukiyo-e prints with Kiyochika's imprimatur, earning wide acclaim. Most of his works deal with Tokyo, including the series 'Views of Famous Places in Tokyo' (東京名所絵), and many specifically with his home neighborhood of Asakusa, but he also prepared drawings of popular subjects like sumo wrestlers and illustrations for comic popular novels. His style is categorized as kōsenga (光線画), a technique pioneered by Kiyochika defined by subdued color, the use of white space, and eschewing the traditional thick black outlines of ukiyo-e. Inoue's promising career was cut short when he died of disease at age 26, depriving Japan of Kiyochika's successor who, had he survived, probably would have been remembered as the last ukiyo-e master. More by this mapmaker...

Matsuki Heikichi (松木平吉; 1717 - 1931) was the name used by successive generations of the head of the Daikokuya Heikichi (大黒屋平吉) publishing house in the Ryōgoku neighborhood of Edo (later Tokyo). The history of the early generations and early years of the publishing house is obscure, but the story of the fourth generation head of the business, Matsuki Tōkō (1836 - 1891), is well-known due to his own artistic output and for his publication of the works of leading artists of the Utagawa School and Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親; 1847 - 1915), the last master of the art of ukiyo-e. After his death in 1891, Tōkō was succeeded by the fifth-generation head of the business, Matsuki Heikichi, who managed the business until his retirement in 1930 and death the following year. Heikichi struggled to keep up with changing tastes as ukiyo-e became less popular. He worked with many of the leading ukiyo-e artists and painters of the day, including Kiyochika and Ohara Hōson (小原豊邨), but had to resort to publishing postcards and reproductions of earlier prints to stay afloat. Learn More...