Tobei Kamei (1901-1977) initially trained in traditional Japanese painting before he moved on to woodblock prints. He was a founding member of Kyoto Sosaku Hanga Kyokai. After WWII Tobei worked with the artists Tokuriki Tomikichiro and Kotozuka Eiichi to publish and sell sosaku hanga prints. In addition to this independant publishing venture, Tobei created designs for the publishing companies Uchida and Unsodo. These latter prints departed from the Sosaku Hanga ideal of the artist fully participating in all components of print making including the design, block carving, and printing of each print. Tobei Kamei prints in this collection are primarily printed by the Unsodo publishing company.