Naonobu, the second brother, died at an early age, and from this cause, and from the fact that he seemed to spend much of his time in hunting out and destroying his earlier work, his paintings are rarer than Tanyu’s. There could hardly be a greater contrast than the work of the two brothers—the first exulting in its strength, and full of a superb recklessness and dash; the second restrained and quiet, though not lacking in force, and full of a soft, liquid quality. Some charming examples of his work are in the British Museum.

The third brother, Yasunobu, was known chiefly for his landscapes, full of delicacy and feeling, and recalling the work of Sesshiu and Sansetsu.

Naonobu’s son Tsunenobu, born in 1636, was a worthy successor, and, in the opinion of many, is worthy to be ranked with Tanyu and the other great men of the Kano school.

Then we have one of the most striking personalities among Japanese painters—Hanabusa Itcho, the last of the great Kano painters. A born humorist, his faculty for practical joking was always getting him into trouble. Indeed, on more than one occasion he found himself in prison owing to liberties he had taken in the pictorial representation of those in high authority. But he is no mere caricaturist. His drawings are pictures first and humorous afterwards, and as a colourist he ranks high even in Japan.

Another pupil of Yasunobu was Sotatsu, one of the greatest flower painters of Japan. He also studied under Sumiyoshi Jokei, a Tosa painter, but can hardly be classed with either of these schools.

It must not be supposed, however, that with the coming of the Sesshiu and Kano schools the old Tosa style had been driven out. It continued to exist alongside the newer schools, and many artists changed from one style to the other according to subject. The Tosa school at this time was distinguished by a minuteness of detail, and also by a richness of colour which gradually came to affect the Kano artists, whose work became much brighter in colour as time went on. Sesshiu, Masanobu, and Motonobu worked chiefly in monochrome, using colour sparingly; but Sanraku’s work, a hundred years later, is full of fresh, bright tints. A curious convention of the Tosa painters in their historical subjects was to leave out the roof of a house in order to expose the interior to view.