About Kanō Naizen
Lived 1570 – 1616 (aged 45–46). Kanō Naizen was a Japanese painter.
was a Japanese painter. He was a part of the Japanese family of painters, the Kanō school. He was the middle son of school's head Kanō Eitoku, younger brother to the Kano school heir Kanō Mitsunobu, older brother to Kanō Takanobu, and adopted brother to the famed Kanō school painter Kanō Sanraku. Naizen primarily worked with his fathers and brothers in the head Kanō workshop in Kyoto to restore many imperial buildings, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines that were destroyed during the Kamakura period and the Genpei Wars. In 1610–15 Naizen moved to Edo (modern-day Tokyo), the new administration capital, at the behest of the recently ascendent Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Stylistically Nazien is often overshadowed by his father and brothers; however he is particularly known for his byōbu screen paintings of Nanban ("Southern Barbarians", i.e. Europeans). Naizen acquired his name when officially entering the Kanō school; his personal name was Shigesato .
One of his more famous works, "Festivals of Toyokuni" , was one of these such paintings, produced in 1605 for the seventh anniversary of the death of Kampaku Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whose posthumous name was Toyokuni Daimyōjin .
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Important facts
People in Kanō Naizen's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Kanō Naizen's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Kanō Naizen?
Japanese artist (1570-1616)
When was Kanō Naizen born?
Kanō Naizen was born in 1570.
When did Kanō Naizen die?
Kanō Naizen died in 1616 in Kyōto.
What was Kanō Naizen's occupation?
Kanō Naizen was a painter.
What nationality was Kanō Naizen?
Kanō Naizen was Japanese.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Kanō Naizen. https://biography.guide/kano-naizen/
MLA: "Kanō Naizen." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/kano-naizen/.
Chicago: "Kanō Naizen." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/kano-naizen/.
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