Artists

Kanō Naonobu

Kanō Naonobu (狩野尚信, 1607–1650) was a court painter to the shogunate and founded the line of the Kanō school that later became known as the Kobikichō house.

Published on: Mar 25, 2026

Kakemono by Kanō Naonobu: cranes beneath pine branches, in ink on silk. — Cranes under pine branches – kakemono by Kanō Naonobu (狩野尚信), Edo period (detail)

In a nutshell

Kanō Naonobu (狩野尚信) was a Japanese painter of the early Edo period (1607–1650). He was the son of Kanō Takanobu, the middle of three brothers between Kanō Tan'yū and Kanō Yasunobu. At the age of seventeen, in 1623, he received painting commissions on the occasion of Tokugawa Iemitsu's visit to Kyōto and became an official painter of the Shogunate. Summoned to Edo in 1630, he received an estate in Takekawa-chō, thereby founding the line later known as the Kobikichō Kanō house. His style diverged noticeably from that of his older brother in composition and ink gradation.

Kanō Naonobu (狩野尚信): Founder of the Kobikichō Kanō House

Kanō Naonobu (狩野尚信, 1607–1650) was a Japanese painter of the early Edo period and one of the painters who established the Kanō school in the new center of power, Edo. He was the son of Kanō Takanobu; his mother was a daughter of the military commander Sassa Narimasa. Among the three brothers he stood in the middle: the elder was Kanō Tan'yū, the younger Kanō Yasunobu.

Court Painter of the Shōgunate since 1623

Naonobu gained access to the shōgunate early on. When Tokugawa Iemitsu traveled to Kyōto in 1623, the seventeen-year-old Naonobu received painting commissions from him and became an official painter of the shōgunate – a Goyō-eshi. In 1630 he was summoned to Edo, where he received a residence in the Takekawa-chō district. With this he founded his own line, initially named after this district and later, following a move under one of his successors, known as the Kobikichō Kanō house. Over six generations, this line produced the most influential Kanō painters of the Edo period.

Independence from Tan'yū

Naonobu's painting inevitably stood in the shadow of his elder brother, who is regarded as the most important Kanō painter of his era. Japanese art historical literature, however, emphasizes that Naonobu, despite all his training in Tan'yū's manner of painting, went beyond it: his composition and, above all, his treatment of ink gradations show a distinctive hand of his own. He died in 1650 at only 43 years of age.

Six Generations from One House

What Naonobu founded in Takekawa-chō in 1630 outlasted him by more than two centuries. After the move to the Kobikichō district, the line was retroactively named after this place and rose to become the most successful of the four Oku-eshi houses: through Chikanobu, Norinobu, Naganobu, and Osanobu it extends into the final years of the shōgunate. Anyone concerned with Kanō painting of the Edo period cannot avoid this lineage — it is the best-documented painter succession in Japan and often allows a work to be dated to within a decade based on signature and rank title.