Ishikawa Toyonobu

A pupil of Nishimura Shigenaga, Toyonobu produced many monochrome "lacquer prints" (urushi-e) which reflected the influence of Okumura Masanobu as well.

Toyonobu also experimented with semi-nude forms, something his chief predecessors also did, but never succeeded in developing it into a trend or subgenre within ukiyo-e. Art historian Richard Lane points out that these images, depicting women with the top half of their kimono open and let down to reveal their chests, were intended as suggestive and erotic, and were not "glorification of the human form such as we find in Greek art".

He had one notable pupil, Ishikawa Toyomasa, who is known chiefly for his depictions of children at play, and who may have been Toyonobu's son.

Bijin-ga prints depict beautiful and erotic images of women, intended for urban citizens during the Edo period.

During the Edo period, the theater form of Kabuki thrived and emerged, making actors a common subject of painters.