Ito Sozan

Itō Sōzan is a Japanese artist who lived in the late ‘800 and early ‘900, a typical exponent of the current known under the name of Shin Hanga (new prints). Little known, its undoubted qualities and its production have been overshadowed by the more famous Ohara Koson (he changed the name to Shoson in honor of Watanabe Shozaburo, using the first part of his name).

He is reported to have been born in 1884, while the death date is unknown, certainly after 1926, the year when Koson was recruited by Watanabe. The possibility that Itō Sōzan died in 1926 due to causes still unknown to us and that Watanabe was forced to replace him, seems to me a possible hypothesis, supported by the fact that a Sōzan production after 1926 with another publisher does not seem to exist.

SOURCE - https://itosozan.com/main-menu/sozan-biography/ (Oct 2025)