Shunbaisai Hokuei (Japanese: 春梅斎 北英; d. 1837), also known as Shunkō III, was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints in Osaka, and was active from about 1824 to 1837.
He was a student of Shunkōsai Hokushū.
Hokuei’s prints most often portray the kabuki actor Arashi Rikan II.
[1] Shunbaisai Hokuei should not be confused with Tōkōen Hokuei (桃幸園 北英), an early 19th-century Edo (Tokyo) printmaker who is also commonly referred to as "Hokuei".
[2]
Signatures of Shunbaisai Hokuei reading from left to right: “Shunkōsai Hokuei” (春江斎 北英), “Sekkarō Hokuei
ga
” (雪花楼 北英 画), and “Shunkō
ga
” (春江 画)
Keisei Ura no Asagin
Woodblock print
by Shunkôsai Hokuei. The play "Keisei Ura no Asagin" describes an unsuccessful attempt by a villain named Karahashi, a subject of the Aboshi clan, to steal the clan treasures and install his son as leader. In act 3, Kowari Dennai, a hunter who is a relative of the true heir, is traveling to the Aboshi domains to settle the succession. Arashi Rikan II plays Kowari Dennai.
