Toba Sōjō in the context of Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga

Modern manga, in the sense of narrative multi-panel cartoons made in Japan, originated from in a sense Western-style cartoons featured in late 19th century Japanese publications. The form of manga as speech-balloon based comics more specifically originated from translations of American comic strips in the 1920s; several early examples of such manga read left to right, with the longest running pre-1945 manga being the Japanese translation of the American comic strip Bringing Up Father. However, Japan has pre-World War II 'manga' just not in the contemporary sense. The term manga first came into use in the late 18th century, though it only started to refer to various forms of cartooning in the 1890s and did not become a common word until around 1920.

Historians and writers on manga history have described two broad and complementary processes that shaped modern manga. While their views differ in the relative importance they attribute it to the role of cultural and historical events following World War II versus the role of pre-war, Meiji, and pre-Meiji Japanese culture and art. One view, represented by other writers such as Frederik L. Schodt, Kinko Ito, and Adam L. Kern, stresses continuity of Japanese cultural and aesthetic traditions, including the latter three eras; the other view states that, during and after the occupation of Japan by the allies (1945–1952), manga was strongly shaped by the Americans' cultural influences, including comics brought to Japan by the GIs, and by images and themes from U.S. television, film, and cartoons (especially Disney). According to Sharon Kinsella, the booming Japanese publishing industry helped create a consumer-oriented society in which publishing giants like Kodansha could shape popular tastes. Manga reflects Japanese society, myths, beliefs rituals, traditions, and fantasies.

Minamoto no Takakuni (源 隆国) (1004–1077), also known as Uji Dainagon (宇治大納言), was a noble and a scholar of ancient Japan. He was also the father of Toba Sōjō, an important painter.

Takakuni was also mentioned as Dainagon of Uji in "gleanings from Uji Dainagon Monogatari" - a collection of Japanese tales written around the beginning of the 13th century, which no longer exists.