Toshusai Sharaku (??? ??; active 1794 - 1795) is widely considered to be one of the great masters of woodblock printing in Japan. Little is known of him; besides his ukiyo-e prints; neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known with any certainty. His active career as a woodblock artist seems to have spanned just ten months in the mid-Edo period of Japanese history; from the middle of 1794 to early 1795.