Japan: Tachibana no Hayanari, from the series 'The Four Friends of the Writing Desk in...

Tachibana no Hayanari (c. 782 - September 24, 844 CE) was a Heian period Japanese government official, calligrapher, and member of the Tachibana family. He travelled to China in 804, returning in 806. His most famous surviving calligraphic work is the 'Ito Naishin'no Ganmon', now in the Imperial Household collection. He is honored as one of the group of three outstanding calligraphers called 'Sanpitsu' ('Three Brushes'). He is honored posthumously as a 'kami' at Kami Goryo Shrine Kyoto. Totoya Hokkei was a Japanese printmaker and book illustrator. He initially studied painting with Kano Yosen (1735-1808), the head of the Kobikicho branch of the Kano School and 'okaeshi' (official painter) to the Tokugawa shogunate. Together with Teisai Hokuba (1771-1844), Hokkei was one of Katsushika Hokusai's best students.