Tosa Mitsuoki’s story is one of endurance and dedication. 

Primarily active in the 17th century, Mitsuoki was a court painter in Kyōto. Traditionally, the position of court painter was held by someone of the Tosa family, but for the ten years prior to Mitsuoki’s arrival, it was vacant. This had meant there had been a bit of a decline in the Tosa art school, and so Mitsuoki saw it as his duty to reestablish the school to its former glory. The Tosa art school specialized in art made specifically for the royal courts, and the paintings often depicted images from famed pieces of classical Japanese literature. The style is also defined by its use of delicate lines, layered pigments, and intricate details. 

Mitsuoki’s real problem was the competition. An alternative to the Tosa school was the Kano school, a school largely influenced by Chinese styles, and characterized by large brush strokes and little to no use of pigment. This school was not as popular at the time, as it was not so closely associated with the imperial courts as the Tosa, but eventually it would become the most influential school of art in Japanese history, and unique in collective art history for holding prominence for more than 300 years.

So Mitsuoki was more or less doomed from the start, but to his credit, the man seems to have accepted his fate over the course of his career. In his later years, he gradually picked up some of the bold brushstrokes emblematic of the opposing school, however they would never be central to his style. While his family’s school would not have the same prominence as his rivals, the man would not be without a legacy. In 1681, he would name his son as his successor, and the Tosa school would go on to influence much of the art of the famed Edo period of Japan.