Editing Utamaro (section)

===Early life===

Little is known of Utamaro's life. He was born '''Kitagawa Ichitarō'''{{efn|{{Nihongo||{{not a typo|北川}}市太郎|Kitagawa Ichitarō}}; note the spelling 北川 differs from the spelling 喜多川 Utamaro used as an artist.{{sfn|Gotō|1975|p=74}} }} in {{circa|1753}}.{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=10}}  As an adult, he was known by the given names Yūsuke,{{efn|{{Nihongo||勇助|Yūsuke}}{{sfn|Gotō|1975|p=74}} }} and later Yūki.{{efn|{{Nihongo||勇記|Yūki}}{{sfn|Gotō|1975|p=74}} }}{{sfnm|1a1=Gotō|1y=1975|1p=74|2a1=Kobayashi|2y=1982|2p=72}}  Early accounts have given his birthplace as Kyoto, Osaka, [[Yoshiwara]] in [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]] (modern Tokyo), or [[Kawagoe, Saitama|Kawagoe]] in [[Musashi Province]] (modern [[Saitama Prefecture]]); none of these places has been verified.  The names of his parents are not known; it has been suggested his father may have been a Yoshiwara teahouse owner, or [[Toriyama Sekien]],{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=10}} an artist who tutored him{{sfn|Kobayashi|1982|p=72}} and who wrote of Utamaro playing in his garden as a child.{{sfn|Collia-Suzuki|2008|p=10}}

Apparently, Utamaro married, although little is known about his wife and there is no record of their having had children. There are, however, many prints of tender and intimate domestic scenes featuring the same woman and child over several years of the child's growth among his works.