Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797¬-1861) is indisputably a major force in the history of Japanese woodblock prints. His career spanned almost fifty years from the 1810s to 1860 and he helped establish the warrior genre as one of the main pillars of the Ukiyo-e tradition. Kuniyoshi has created some of the most spectacular heroic triptychs which still resonate today in modern manga culture.