Artists

Ōtaki Uzan

Ōtaki Uzan (大滝雨山) was a Japanese painter and teacher. His students included Awaji Saisō, who also studied under Hirafuku Hyakusui.

Published on: Apr 5, 2026

Kakemono by Ōtaki Uzan: kingfisher diving over the water. — Kingfisher diving – kakemono by Ōtaki Uzan (大滝雨山) (detail)

In a nutshell

Ōtaki Uzan (大滝雨山) was a Japanese painter and teacher. Among his students was Awaji Saisō, who received his training under him and under Hirafuku Hyakusui – one of the better-known Nihonga painters of the Meiji and Taishō periods. Uzan's field of work was bird-and-animal painting in the tradition of Japanese nature observation, in which the posture and movement of an animal are captured with a few brushstrokes.

Ōtaki Uzan (大滝雨山): Painter and Teacher

Ōtaki Uzan (大滝雨山) was a Japanese painter whose work falls within the Meiji and Taishō periods. He is documented above all through his teaching activity: the painter Awaji Saisō received his training under him and under Hirafuku Hyakusui, one of the better-known Nihonga painters of these years. Such dual training was common practice – anyone seeking to establish themselves as a painter gathered instruction from several masters, and the mention of both names side by side shows that Uzan stood among the teachers to be taken seriously.

Bird and Animal Painting in the Nihonga Tradition

Uzan's field of work was bird and animal painting. This genre demands a particular form of observation: it is not the resting animal that is the true subject, but the moment of movement, to be captured with few brushstrokes. The kingfisher in a plunge dive, for instance, is among the most demanding motifs of this kind, because the body must be rendered on the diagonal and the position of the wings holds true for only a moment.

The Kingfisher in a Plunge Dive

Scarcely any motif in bird painting is more delicate than the plunge-diving kingfisher. The body lies on the diagonal, the beak points toward its target — whether the wings are held close or spread wide in this distinguishes the two common conceptions of the motif. Both hold true for only a fraction of a second and are assumed by no model. The painter must render them from memory, and has only a few strokes with which to do so. When it succeeds, an image of great tension results; when it fails, the bird appears to be falling rather than diving. In the execution of the eye, beak, and flight feathers, a comparison of several works most quickly reveals how steady a hand was.