One of Utagawa Hiroshige's most well known and successful students, Utagawa Hiroshige II, was born in Edo in 1826. Hiroshige II first entered into the ateliers of Utagawa Hiroshige at an unknown date, receiving the go, or art name Shigenobu. In 1849, he published his first illustrated book, Twenty-Four Paragons of Japan and China. Throughout the 1850s, Hiroshige II received a large number of commissions, which he produced in likeness of his master under the pen name Ichiryusai mon, or "Student of Ichiryusai."

 After his mentor passed away in 1858, Hiroshige II inherited the family name and entered into an artistic collaboration with Utagawa Kunisada. Over the next several years, the two men produced series including Record of Kannon's Miracles (1858), Flowers of Edo: A Gathering of Beautiful Places (1862), and Pride of Edo: Thirty-Six Amusements (1864). In addition, Hiroshige II designed travel prints, including Thirty-Six Views of the Capital, One Hundred Famous Views of the Provinces (c. 1859-61), and the Go-joraku Tokaido Project (1863). In 1865 Hiroshige II moved to Yokohama, where he continued his work under the aliases Ryusho and Rissho. For the next three years, he produced few prints, choosing instead to decorate lanterns, kites, and tea chests for export. Utagawa Hiroshige II passed away in 1868 at the age of forty.