Kameda Bosai 亀田鵬斎

亀田鵬斎 Kameda Bosai (1752-1826)
Confucian scholar of the middle and late Edo period. Born in Kanda, Edo. He studied under the eclectic scholar Inoue Kinga. He opened a private school and gradually gained fame, but because of his strong opposition to the government's control of learning, he lost most of his students and became impoverished. In addition to poetry, he excelled in calligraphy and painting, and is regarded as one of the greatest cursive calligraphers of the modern period. He traveled with Tani Buncho and Sakai Hoitsu, who became lifelong friends. In his later years, his life consisted of poetry and drinking. Hosai's calligraphy has been described as "flying dance" by contemporary Western collectors.