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Kunisada II was originally known as Kunimasa and was a student of the Utagawa school. In 1846 he married the daughter of artist Utagawa Kunisada and took the masters name. Kunisada II's most famous work is his illustration of the 11th-century Genji Monogatori by Murasaki Shikibu that was published in 1857. The University of Alberta has a nearly complete set of the 54 prints depicting scenes from each of the chapters. In 1870, Kunisada II inherited the name of his masters' master and became Toyokuni III (but is referred to today as Toyokuni IV).