Kanō Einō (1631–1697) was a Japanese painter of the Kyō-ganō sub-school, part of the Kanō school. Today he is remembered mainly as the author of the work that founded art-historical writing in Japan. He was born in Kyoto, the son of Kanō Sansetsu and grandson on his mother's side of Kanō Sanraku, the founder of the Kyō-ganō.
When much of the school moved to Edo (modern Tokyo) to paint for the Tokugawa shogunate, the Kyoto branch stayed behind. Einō learned painting from his father and, after Sansetsu's death in 1651, became head of the Kyō-ganō.
His most influential work is the Honchō Gashi (本朝畫史, "Japanese painting history"), considered the earliest serious art-historical work in Japan. It contains biographies of more than four hundred artists, from ancient times onward. It was probably completed by 1678. A shortened version, Honchō Gaden, appeared in 1691 in five woodblock-printed volumes, and the full work was published in 1693. Einō likely reworked material his father had gathered earlier, although that covered only a quarter of the artists in the book. It remains a fundamental source for researchers.