Hanabusa Itcho (1652 - 1724)

Painter at the middle part of the Edo period.
Patriarch of the Itcho school.

Itcho was born in Osaka as a son of Taga Hakuan, official doctor for Ise Kameyama clan.
When Itcho was 15 years old, the family moved to Edo.
He learned painting technique from Kano Yasunobu, but, later, Itcho was pronounced excommunication.
Itcho socialized with the great Haiku poets, Matsuo Bassho and Takarai Kikaku.
His pen name for Haiku was Gyoun.
In 1698, when Itcho was 47 years old, he was deported to Miyake-Jima island because of criminal acts.
Until he was absolved in 1709, he kept painting pictures in the island.
His pieces of works in this period are called "Shima-Itcho".
After he came back to Edo, until he died at the age of 73, he lived at the Senun-Ji Temple and kept painting.