(fl. 1822–1830)In his exhaustive bibliography of ukiyo-e artists, Kato refers to Hokuchō's contribution— under the name Inoue Shunshosai— in 1839–1840 (Tenpō 10–11) of woodblock print book illustrations to 3 different volumes: , and . Almost all bibliographical references to Hokuchō, however, date the end of his productivity to 1830. Lyon states that Hokuchō's last print was published in the third month of 1833. was a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print artist active in the Osaka area during the first half of the nineteenth century. He was a member of the Shunkōsai Fukushū school of artists,Other members of the school were Gatōken Shunshi, Shunbaisai Hokuei (Shunkō III) and Seiyōsai Shunshi. and studied under .Keyes and Mizushima 1973, 223 His original surname was , and he used the gō art names (1822-1824), (1824-1830), .Inoue 1931, 180
As an Osaka-based artist, Hokuchō's works are categorized as , a term used to distinguish prints produced in the Kamigata area (Kyoto and Osaka) from those produced in Edo.JAANUS, "Kamigata-e" Kamigata-e were predominantly images of kabuki actors, and were produced almost exclusively by amateur “talented kabuki fans” promoting their favourite actors rather than professional print designers.Kitagawa 2005, 230
Works Hokuchō was not a prolific artist and few prints attributed to him survive. Many of his prints are characterized by yellow backgrounds,Lyon 2013 and all of these images are yakusha-e kabuki actor portraits. Beyond Hokushū's characteristic Osaka style, his prints also show the influence of a style derived from Toyokuni I; what distinguishes Hokuchō's style is his intent to illustrate the theatrical scene itself, despite backgrounds that are generally absent or only summarily realistic.Milone 2022, 404 Actors featured in his works include , , , , , , , , and .
The majority of his prints were published by (Honsei), although he also produced works for the firms (Tenki) and .Lyon 2013 He regularly worked with Kasuke, one of the most esteemed woodblock carvers of the period.Lyon 2013Doesburg describes Kasuke as "the famous and in those days unrivalled [sic] master-carver."
Modern art historians and critics have not been overly impressed with Hokuchō's skill, describing him as "competent but limited",Roberts 1980, 51 and less talented than his mentor, Hokushū.Keyes & Mizushima 1973, 224
Collections Works by Shunshosai Hokuchō belong to the permanent collections of various international museums including the following: Asian Art Museum Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Ritsumeikan University [立命館大学] Royal Ontario Museum Tokyo Municipal Library [東京都立図書館] Waseda University Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum [演劇博物館] V & A Museum
See also Ryūsai Shigeharu - kamigata-e artist Utagawa Kunimasu - kamigata-e artist Konishi Hirosada - kamigata-e artist Yoshida Hanbei - kamigata-e artist Actor Ichikawa Ebijūrō as Samurai (Shunshosai Hokuchō) - print by Hokuchō
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