The artist Unno Bisei, or Unno Yoshimori (1864-1919), was the son of Unno Moritoshi whose father Unno Yoshimori (1785-1862) was an accomplished maker of metal sword fittings. He studied metalwork under his uncle and the well-known metal artist Unno Shomin (1844-1915), and painting under Imao Keinen (1845-1925) and Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889). He then studied Western-style sculpture with Ogura Sojiro (1846-1913) who was taught by Vincenzo Ragusa. He became professor of the Tokyo School of Fine Art, and was appointed a Teishitsu Gigei-In [Imperial Artist] in 1892. He exhibited at the Paris, St Louis and Great Britain Expositions and won a bronze medal for a wood sculpture in Paris in 1900. Some works by the artist are in the Imperial Collection.