Eiichi Kotozuka (琴塚 英一, Kotozuka Eiichi, 1906 – 1 October 1981) was a 20th-century Japanese commercial artist and woodblock printmaker. He was a prolific artist of the sōsaku-hanga style. He was one of four artists who co-founded the print publishing company Koryokusha. He was noted for his prints of Japanese cultural traditions, flowers, landscapes, and wildlife.
Kotozuka was born in Osaka in 1906.[1] He was a member of the Seiryusha Group of Liberal Artists.[2]
Kotozuka was an adherent of the sosaku hanga style of illustration, which emphasized a print process with greater direct artist involvement, resulting in a somewhat more crude illustration, but one with stronger emotional impact. Prior to sosaku hanga, an artist would create an illustration which would be passed to a team of engravers, printers, and publishers who would each control the production of the final print. In sosaku hanga, the artist was directly involved with each step.[3]
