SHIBUNKAKU ONLINE SHOP | Sakai Hōitsu

Painter and haiku poet of the late Edo period. Hōitsu was the younger brother of the lord of Himeji domain, Sakai Tadazane. Adoption by the 18th head priest of Higashi Honganji, Monnyo Shōnin allowed him to avoid a career as an official in his family’s domain. Hōitsu studied shasei (sketching from life) with Sō Shiseki and combined painting techniques from the Kanō, Tosa and Maruyama-Shijō schools. In the early 19th century, he revived the memory of Ogata Kōrin, and eventually became himself the leading master of the Rinpa school in Edo. He added rich emotional nuance and realistic detail to the school’s traditional decorativeness.