Tsutaya Jūzaburō

Tsutaya opened his publishing business in Shinyoshiwara Gojukkendō Higashigawa in Edo in 1774 and began publishing with a volume of illustrations of Yoshiwara beauties by Kitao Shigemasa called Hitome Senbon ("Thousands at a Glance"); Tsutaya's other early publications were also guides to the pleasure quarters.

[1] In 1783, he began publishing kibyōshi by the famous writer Hōseidō Kisanji, marking the beginning of his popularity and success.

[1] Over the course of his career, Tsutaya discovered and supported artists and writers such as Utamaro, Sharaku, Bakin, Jippensha Ikku, and Santō Kyōden, producing thousands of prints based on the artists' designs, printing the writers' books, encouraging these creative talents, and serving as their patron and mentor.

In 1791 Santō Kyōden was placed under house arrest in shackles, and Tsutaya was forced to pay a large monetary penalty for publishing his politically volatile works.

[citation needed] His business continued under his chief clerk Yūsuke, who took on the name Jūzaburō II; production became sporadic from the 1810s, and appears to have ceased by the early 1850s.

[1] He lodged writers and artists in his home, including Kyokutei Bakin, Santō Kyōden, and Utamaro, the last of whom still lived there at the time of Tsutaya's death.