The ukiyo-e portrait format showing only the head or upper torso is called Ōkubi-e.
Ōkubi-e is a close-up portrait format whose name literally refers to a “large head.” Rather than showing a full figure, the composition concentrates attention on a sitter’s face, expression, costume details, and theatrical or fashionable identity. It was used for both paintings and woodblock prints.
Katsukawa Shunkō I is generally credited with producing the first Ōkubi-e portraits, particularly images of male kabuki actors. His teacher, Katsukawa Shunshō, also designed important actor portraits in the format. In the early 1790s, Kitagawa Utamaro adapted the close-up approach for bijin-ga, or portraits of beautiful women, creating some of ukiyo-e’s most celebrated images.
The format was not merely a neutral change in framing. By enlarging the head and torso, artists could emphasize psychological expression, celebrity, hairstyle, cosmetics, and textile pattern. Authorities banned Ōkubi-e in 1800, but the prohibition was lifted eight years later. Uchiwa-e means a fan-shaped print, Surimono is a privately commissioned print, and Hashira-e is a narrow pillar print.