Son of a military retainer of the Tokugawa family. Studied briefly with Kawanabe Gyosai and Shibara Zeshin; may have acquired an attention to the effect of light from the photographer Shimooka Renjo in Yokihama. May also have known the Western painter Charles Wirgman. Best-known prints, 1876-1881, depict scenes of the assimilation of Western influences -- often dramatically lit by the moon, fire, or fireworks. From the early 1880s he turned to political and social satire. Worked for a number of comic journals and newspapers, among them Marumaru chinbun for which he made cartoons for 18 years. Also made woodblock illustrations and landscape prints. Working for 6 different publishers, designed ca. 80 battle triptychs during the Sino-Japanese War. Also designed a few prints of the Russo-Japanese War.