From Japan

Katsushika Hokusai

Hokusai's date of birth is unclear, but is often stated as the 23rd day of the 9th month of the 10th year of the Hōreki era (in the old calendar, or 31 October 1760) to an artisan family, in the Katsushika district of Edo, the capital of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate (currently Katsushika-ku, Tokyo). His childhood name was Tokitarō. It is believed his father was Nakajima Ise, a mirror-maker for the shōgun. His father never made Hokusai an heir, so it is possible that his mother was a concubine. Hokusai began painting around the age of six, perhaps learning from his father, whose work included the painting of designs around mirrors.