# Portrait of Ōzora Buzaemon

- By: Watanabe Kazan (Japanese, 1793–1841)
- Date: 1827
- Medium: hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Image: 221.8 x 117.8 cm (87 5/16 x 46 3/8 in.); Overall: 256.8 x 131 cm (101 1/8 x 51 9/16 in.); with knobs: 256.8 x 140.5 cm (101 1/8 x 55 5/16 in.)
- Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
- Credit line: Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.177)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.177/1980.177_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Over seven feet tall, Ōzora Buzaemon became a tabloid sensation when he arrived in Edo (Tokyo) in 1827 . His handprints were cherished souvenirs, and his image was sold on woodblock prints. As inscriptions on the scroll detail, Watanabe Kazan met Buzaemon at the residence of a noted Confucian scholar. Using a camera obscura–type device—a tool that uses light to project an image onto a surface—he made this preliminary drawing for a painting. The portrayal depicts Buzaemon’s discomfort in being stared at.