Okada Hankō

Okada Hankō (岡田 半江, 1782–1846)[1] was a Japanese painter of the Edo period,[2] who worked in the Nanga (also called literati or Bunjinga) style of painting.

As with most Nanga painters, Hankō was not a true amateur in the Chinese literati tradition: both he and his father were of samurai rank, held positions the local government, and managed the family rice business.

[5] As a child, Hankō was exposed to his father's artistic circle, including the leading literati of the day, such as Uragami Gyokudō, Tanomura Chikuden,Totoki Baigai, and Rai San'yō.

A series of deaths of people close to him led to changes in Hankō's life: first, his mother died in 1818, his father (and another prominent literatus, Uragami Gyokudō) in 1820, and his wife in 1822.

Of greater importance was the Tempō famine in Ōsaka (1832-36), leading to attacks on the houses of merchants and moneylenders in large towns.

In addition to the loss of his friend, Hankō's secondary residence was destroyed, along with his collection of books and paintings that he had inherited from his father.

"[16] Hankō moved to the area just north of the Sumiyoshi Shrine and it was here that finest paintings were produced, such as Crows Rising in Spring Mist(Tōyama Kinenkan, Ōsaka); Rain in the Deep Mountains (Private Collection, Japan), and Views of Sumiyoshi (Ueno Collection, Japan).