Gyosui was a daughter of the famed Meijii artist Kyosai Kawanabe. She was a very accomplished artist in her own right.
Gyosui Kawanabe was one of the handful famous female artists before Shin Hanga movement. She taught Nihon-ga, Japanese traditional painting, at Joshibi University of Arts and Crafts. She was the daughter of Kyosai Kawanabe, the eccentric genius in Edo-Meiji era.