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Born and raised in [[Yamashiro province]], Yûbi studied ''[[yamato-e]]'' under [[Reizei Tamechika]] in Kyoto, and came into the service of the Imperial Court through his apprenticeship to his cousin [[Okada Tamechika]], becoming a playmate for the young Meiji Emperor. He was officially named Imperial court painter in [[1884]].

Born and raised in [[Yamashiro province]], Yûbi studied ''[[yamato-e]]'' under [[Reizei Tamechika]] in Kyoto, and came into the service of the Imperial Court through his apprenticeship to his cousin [[Okada Tamechika]], becoming a playmate for the young Meiji Emperor. He was officially named Imperial court painter in [[1884]].

The series of 21 scroll paintings depicting the events and accomplishments of Iwakura Tomomi's life were commissioned the Court around 1890, following Iwakura's death in [[1883]]. They were never completed, however, and survive only in an unfinished, preparatory form. Yûbi's 24-scroll Sanjô Sanetomi series, by contrast, commissioned by the Court in [[1900]], was completed on lavish gold-flecked paper, with introductions on each scroll in elegant calligraphy accompanied by sketches of flowering or fruiting tree branches. On both of these sets, Yûbi employed bold, deep ''[[Nihonga]]'' colors; while the Iwakura scrolls, perhaps because of their preparatory nature, leave much of the background space empty, as in earlier, more traditional-style ''yamato-e'' painting, the Sanjô scrolls incorporate thoroughly filled-in background scenes.

The series of 21 scroll paintings depicting the events and accomplishments of Iwakura Tomomi's life were commissioned the Court around 1890, following Iwakura's death in [[1883]]. They were never completed, however, and survive only in an unfinished, preparatory form. Yûbi's 24-scroll Sanjô Sanetomi series, by contrast, commissioned by the Court in [[1900]], was completed on lavish gold-flecked paper, with introductions on each scroll in elegant calligraphy accompanied by sketches of flowering or fruiting tree branches. On both of these sets, Yûbi employed bold, deep ''[[Nihonga]]'' colors; while the Iwakura scrolls, perhaps because of their preparatory nature, leave much of the background space empty, as in earlier, more traditional-style ''yamato-e'' painting, the Sanjô scrolls incorporate thoroughly filled-in background scenes. The Iwakura and Sanjô scrolls were first displayed for the public in a brief two-month exhibition in July through September 2014.<ref>Pamphlets, "[http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/event/sannomaru/tenrankai66.html The two people who supported Emperor Meiji - Sanjo Sanetomi and Iwakura Tomomi - an account of the late Edo period to the Meiji Restoration in biographical picture scrolls]," The Museum of the Imperial Collections, [[Sannomaru Shozokan|Sannomaru Shôzôkan]], September 2014.</ref>

Tanaka did two further prominent commissions for the Court of a similar type. One was a set of fifteen scrolls, commissioned in [[1904]], depicting the accomplishments and events of the life of [[Sanjo Sanetsumu|Sanjô Sanetsumu]] ([[1802]]-[[1859]]), father of Sanetomi. These scrolls include depictions of, among many other events, the destruction of the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace]] in an [[1854]] fire, its reconstruction, and the signing of the [[Harris Treaty]] in [[1858]].

Tanaka did two further prominent commissions for the Court of a similar type. One was a set of fifteen scrolls, commissioned in [[1904]], depicting the accomplishments and events of the life of [[Sanjo Sanetsumu|Sanjô Sanetsumu]] ([[1802]]-[[1859]]), father of Sanetomi. These scrolls include depictions of, among many other events, the destruction of the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace]] in an [[1854]] fire, its reconstruction, and the signing of the [[Harris Treaty]] in [[1858]].