View of the Three Cascades of Kegon Waterfall, from the series Famous Places in the Mountains of Nikko

Eisen came from a samurai family belonging to the Fujiwara clan. He studied first with Eizan. His works include book illustrations, primarily of an erotic nature. He is said to have lived a dissolute life as a heavy drinker, and for a time to have managed a brothel. Keisai Eisen designed a series of views of five waterfalls in the mountains near Nikko; two of his pictures were based on Hokusai's prints, but whereas Hokusai's drawing is precise and detailed, Eisen's is deliberately ragged. This and the somber colors of Eisen's prints give them a much different effect.