Akamatsu Unrei was born in Osaka in 1892. His real name was Yoshisuke.
He studied painting with Unsen Koyama and Tikugai Fujii and later with the famous nanga painter Himejima Chikugai (1840-1928).
At a relatively young age he already proved a true master of nanga, surpassing the talents of his teachers and finding a new, personal way of looking at nanga. His paintings were often exhibited with the Bunten, Teiten and Nitten and he was a member of the Nihon Nanga-in. He died in 1958 at the age of 65.
