Eishi was born Hosoda
Tokitomi () in 1756 to a well-provided samurai family that was part of the prestigious
Fujiwara clan. His grandfather Hosoda
Tokitoshi (細田
時敏) had held an influential position in the shogunate as Treasury Minister. In 1772 he came to head his family when his father Hosoda
Tokiyuki () died. From 1781 he held a position in the palace of the
shōgun,
Tokugawa Ieharu. How Eishi took to art is unknown. He appears to have studied under
Kanō Michinobu of the
Kanō school of painting, from whom he likely was given the art name Eishi—though tradition holds he received the name from Shōgun Ieharu. About 1784 he left the official service of the Shōgun and began to train under Torii Bunryūsai, an
ukiyo-e artist about whom almost nothing is known. Eishi's earliest known work dates to the following year. He remained unofficially in the Shōgun's service until 1789, and thereafter left his family in the hands of
his adopted son Tokitoyo (), thereby giving up his samurai rank; he reasoned that his ill health did not permit him to continue with such duties. Eishi's earliest works were colour ''
prints. The subjects are such literary fare as The Tale of Genji'' and are in subdued tones, as required by contemporary laws against ostentation. He went on to specialize in '
portraits of beautiful women, of which he produced a number of series. His most prominent rival at first was Kiyonaga; later his work competed against that of Utamaro. His manner of depicting women went through stages: the earliest were of courtesans much in the manner of Kiyonaga; then seated women performing daily activities such as reading or writing, set against bright backgrounds; later, slender women standing against minimal, subdued backgrounds. Eishi depicted gradually taller and more slender women until, in the latest prints, their heads were one-twelfth the height of the figures; more so even than Kiyonaga, whose reputation is for tall, slender beauties. Eishi made occasional illustrations for books of ' erotica. He was a prolific painter of such standing that in 1800 a painting of his entered the collection of the cloistered
Empress Go-Sakuramachi and he was granted the honorary title Jibukyō (). Eishi abandoned print designing for painting after 1801. He died in the seventh month of 1829 and was buried at Rengeji Temple. His Buddhist
posthumous name is Kōsetsuin Denkaishin Eishi Nichizui Koji (). He also used the personal names Min'nojō () and Yasaburō (). Most of his students are little remembered; the best known are and
Eishō. Brooklyn Museum - 'Hana no En' from 'Eight Views of Disguised Genji (Furyu Yatsushi Genji)' - Eishi Chobunsai.jpg|
Hana no En, colour woodblock print, , from
Eight Views of Disguised Genji Brooklyn Museum - Cherry Blossom Viewing at Gotenyama Hill - Eishi Chobunsai.jpg|
Cherry Blossom Viewing at Gotenyama Hill, colour woodblock print, Chobunsai Eishi - c. 1800, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper.jpg|
Courtesans of the Ōgiya Brothel, colour woodblock print, Chôbunsai Eishi Concours de plaisirs des quatre saisons.JPG|
Summer, from the series
Pleasure Competition in the Four Seasons, colour on silk, Ōta Nampo.jpg|
Ōta Nanpo, == Collections ==