Hasegawa Sadanobu II (Konobu I) (1848-1940)

Home‎ > ‎Artists‎ > ‎

Prints in Collection

Illustration of Depth of the Sea, 1870/c. 1875
IHL Cat. #2268

Picture of Higashi Okumi 15th Ward Elementary School from the series Twelve Views of New Buildings in Naniwa,
c. 1872-1875
IHL Cat. #1619

Picture of the Famous Kobe Steam Train from the Kobe Old Print Collection,
re-printed in 1936 (orig. 1874)
IHL Cat. #1957

A Dutiful Geisha, No. 2 from from Kankyo, Nishiki-e Hyakuji Shinbun, 1875
IHL Cat. #2301
A Beautiful Story About a Parent and Child, No. 10 from Kankyo, Nishiki-e Hyakuji Shinbun, 1875
IHL Cat. #2300

Old Man Receives Award,
No. 9 from the Nichinichi Shinbun, c. 1875
IHL Cat. #487

Monster Reforms Mayor,
No. 8 from the Ōsaka Nichinichi Shinbunshi, c. 1875
IHL Cat. #1742

The Rebellion Begins, Issue 1

from the Osaka newspaper

Kagoshima-ken ari no sonomama,

March 5, 1877

IHL Cat. #2169

The Huge Win of the Armed Forces, Issue 4
from the Osaka newspaper
Kagoshima-ken ari no sonomama,
March 5, 1877
IHL Cat. #567

Portrait of Saigō Takamori,
1877
IHL Cat. #1171
Portrait of Kirino Toshiaki,
1877
IHL Cat. #1172

Nakamura Jyakuemon, Arashi Rikan and Arashi Kitsusaburō in the Sogamono, Chō chidori Soga no jitsuroku, 1879
IHL Cat. #802

Biographical Data

Biography

Hasegawa Sadanobu II 二代長谷川貞信 (1848-1940) [Konobu I 初代小信]
[Note: biography updated 6/6/2017]
Sources: The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing Company, 2005, p. 439; the website of the Fukeiga Library http://fukeiga.library.pref.osaka.jp/gaka.php?ID=114

The second of six generations of Hasega was, starting with his father Hasegawa Sadanobu I (1809-1879) and continuing through Sadanobu IV (1914-1999)and Konobu V (born 1946). [See Hasegawa Lineage below.] He was born in Osaka and used the gō (artist name) Konobu 小信 until 1879 when he started using the Sadanobu name as his gō upon the death of his father Sadanobu I. He studied with his father and with Osai Yoshiume 鶯斎芳梅 (1819-1879), (a.k.a. Utagawa Yoshiume), a student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s (1797-1861). He spent about three years in Kobe starting in 1867 during which he produced a number of prints showing scenes of the impact of Westerners in and around the city.

His real name was Hasegawa Tokutarō 長谷川
徳太朗.

Picture of Prosperity on the Kobe Coast

摂津神戸海岸繁栄之図　二代目　長谷川貞信画　明治4年（1871)

His print designs include depictions of actors (yakusha-e), landscapes (fūkei-ga), civilization and enlightenment/modernization (bunmei kaika-e), the Sino-Japanese War (senso-e), illustrations for novels (kuchi-e), advertising flyers (hikifuda 引き札) and prints for newspaper supplements (nishiki-e shinbun). His nishiki-e shinbun prints were mostly created for the Osaka Yubin hochi shinbun (Postal News) and the Osaka nichinichi shinbunshi (Osaka Daily News), for which he also wrote stories.

For a full range of the artist's work see the website of Kansai University Library at http://kul01.lib.kansai-u.ac.jp/library/etenji/hasegawa/shodai.html

The Hasegawa Lineage

Sources: "Mameban nishiki-e" by Peter Ujlaki and John Fiorillo, appearing in Andon 103, Journal of the Society for Japanese Arts, spring 2017, p. 64 and as clarified in email exchanges with John Fiorillo on June 6, 2017 and July 27, 2020.

Name	gō (artist name)	birth-death	notes
Hasegawa Sadanobu I	did not use the Konobu gō	1809-1879
Hasegawa Sadanobu II	Konobu I	1848-1940	son of Sadanobu I
never took Sadanobu name	Konobu II	1866-1886	younger brother of Sadanobu II
Hasegawa Sadanobu III	Konobu III	1881-1963	son of Sadanobu II
Hasegawa Sadonobu IV	Konobu IV	1914-1999	son of Sadanobu III
Hasegawa Sadonobu V (ascended to this name in 2003)	Konobu V	b. 1946	daughter of Sadanobu IV

Note: Ujlaki and Fiorillo in their article note the following: "The literature on the Hasegawa lineage of artists (unusually, all were blood relations, i.e., sons and one daughter; none were adopted into the lineage) offers conflicting identifications for the use of 'Konobu' (earlier gō or art name).

Sample Signatures and Seals of the Artist