His dates are unknown. "Tawaraya" was a painting workshop that took commissions for decorative work — fan paintings, ornamented papers and screens — from the well-to-do townspeople of Kyoto. Guided by Hon'ami Koetsu, the bold stylisation and decorative innovation Sotatsu brought were received as a new fashion and widely admired. Outstanding among them is the underpainting of the Poem Scroll with Cranes, made jointly with Koetsu, whose almost cinematic conception conveys the passage of time. He extended his activity into more public commissions — ink painting, screens and sliding-door panels — and was granted the rank of hokkyo at some point before 1630. Almost nothing is known of the man himself; it is the exceptional artistry of the work that holds us.