Kawakami Tōgai

His birth name was Yamagishi Mannojō, but was later adopted by the Kawakamis; a family of the minor nobility.

As a young man, he went to Edo (Tokyo) and studied painting with Ōnishi Chinnen [ja], a follower of the Shijō school.

He also worked for the Ministry of Culture and the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, where he did drafting and made charts.

While studying cartography, he decided to open an art school at his own home in the Shitaya district, where he taught Western-style painting.

Among his notable students were Takahashi Yuichi, Koyama Shōtarō, Matsuoka Hisashi, Kawamura Kiyoo and Nakamaru Seijūrō [ja].