Later, he was adopted into the Tsukioka family, an artist in Kyoto (some say that he made this up, while others say that he was adopted by his father's cousin Shikisaburo KYOYA, an apothecary, and studied under Shogetsu, an artist in the Shijo school, at first, but he thought his teacher's art would not be popular and promising so that he became a pupil of Kuniyoshi UTAGAWA).
のちに、京都の画家の家である月岡家の養子となる（自称の説有り、他に父のいとこ薬種京屋織三郎の養子となったのち、初めに松月という四條派の絵師についていたが、これでは売れないと見限り歌川国芳に入門したという話もある）。