He was born into a townsman family in Edo; his real name is said to have been Ando Kichijiro. His birth year is usually given as 1747, but since he later overstated his age, some put it at 1738, and accounts differ.
Around this time he first studied Kano-school painting, then worked under Suzuki Harunobu, the ukiyo-e master who spread color prints. In his own later writings he says he even painted under Harunobu's name after the master's death, a sign of his early skill.
He studied with So Shiseki, who brought realistic Chinese bird-and-flower painting, and learned fine detailed rendering. Around this time he is said to have associated with Hiraga Gennai and deepened his interest in Western art and science. Moving among schools shaped his own style.
With help from the Dutch-studies scholar Otsuki Gentaku and others he studied Dutch books and succeeded in making the first etching in Japan. A view of Mimeguri Shrine in Edo is well known. Such pictures were also enjoyed through peep-box viewers.
He traveled from Edo to Nagasaki and recorded it in pictures and words, later published as Saiyu ryotan and kept as a diary. In Nagasaki he glimpsed life at the Dutch factory, and on the way back he watched whaling at Ikitsuki Island in Kyushu and recorded it.
He published a world map with an explanatory book, introducing in plain terms the heliocentric theory that the round earth moves around the sun. His distinction lay in trying to bring Western knowledge not only to scholars but to ordinary townspeople.
From around this time he painted many oils with Western techniques, using perspective and shading to depict scenes like Shichirigahama in Sagami and Mount Fuji. Some were offered to shrines as votive panels, as he sought to show Western-style painting widely.
He published Kopperu tenmon zukai, summarizing Western astronomy and introducing Copernicus' theory. Though a painter, he wrote many books on astronomy, geography and science, seeking to give Edo people a new way of seeing the world.
Weary of the world, Kokan is said to have sent acquaintances notice of his own death. A tale says that when a friend later spotted him out walking, he replied that a dead man does not speak. It shows his eccentric character.
He died in Edo. Starting from ukiyo-e and moving through Chinese-style painting, copperplate prints and oils to introducing astronomy and geography, he left work that crossed many fields. He is valued as a pioneer who joined Western knowledge with painting.
Suzuki HarunobuHiraga GennaiŌtsuki Gentaku
Ueda AkinariHayashi ShiheiInō TadatakaHanawa HokiichiTsutaya JūzaburōUesugi YōzanDaikokuya KōdayūKitagawa Utamaro
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.