Artists

Murata Tōho

Murata Tōho (村田東圃) was a painter of the Nanga school who was active in the first half of the 19th century. He taught Asō Tōkoku and was the adoptive father of the literati painter Murata Kōkoku.

Published on: Jun 17, 2026

Kakemono by Murata Tōho: cranes beneath pine branches, ink and color on silk. — Cranes and pines – kakemono by Murata Tōho (村田東圃) (detail)

In a nutshell

Murata Tōho (村田東圃) was a Japanese painter of the Nanga school, the Japanese literati painting tradition, and was active in the first half of the 19th century. He taught the Nanga painter Asō Tōkoku (1836–1908) and was the adoptive father of Murata Kōkoku (1831–1912), who later became one of the better-known representatives of literati painting. Tōho thus stands at a point where two lines of transmission of Nanga intersect: the instruction of a student and the continuation of the house through an adopted son.

Murata Tōho (村田東圃): Literati Painter and Head of the Family

Murata Tōho (村田東圃) was a Japanese painter of the Nanga school, Japanese literati painting, and was active in the first half of the 19th century – the period in which Nanga reached its peak in Japan. Literati painting understood itself less as a craft than as an ideal of cultivation: painting, poetry, and calligraphy were regarded as expressions of the same disposition, and the painter ideally did not appear as a commissioned craftsman, but as an educated man who took up the brush.

Transmission through Teaching and Adoption

Tōho taught the Nanga painter Asō Tōkoku (1836–1908) and was the adoptive father of Murata Kōkoku (1831–1912). Both paths – instructing a pupil and adopting a son – were the customary ways in Japanese painting of carrying a tradition across generations. Adoption secured not only the name, but also the workshop, the collection, and the network of relationships.

Kōkoku became one of the more renowned literati painters of Japan in the second half of the 19th century. Through him, Tōho's house continued to have an effect into the Meiji period, when Nanga had to assert itself against the newly promoted schools.

Crane and Pine

Crane and pine are among the oldest paired motifs in East Asian painting. Tradition attributes a thousand years to the crane, while the pine keeps its needles through the winter — together they form an image of a long, steadfast life. Unlike motifs tied to a particular season, such a kakemono can be displayed all year round and is especially suited to formal occasions. In literati painting it is usually executed in ink with sparing use of color: the crane derives its effect from the contrast between the plumage left white and the few black areas on tail and neck.