Biography

He was born at 7-Yashiki, Kamiichi Teramachi, Mito (now Kanemachi, Mito City), Ibaraki Prefecture, as the fifth child and third son of a former retainer of the Mito domain. Influenced by his eldest brother, he aspired to become a military officer and entered the Nagoya Army Preparatory School, where his second elder brother was enrolled (the school was located in what is now Shirakabe, Higashi Ward, Nagoya). However, just before graduating, he developed tuberculosis and was forced to abandon his military career.
During his recuperation in another location, he began painting in watercolor. In March 1906, wishing to study painting seriously, he entered the Kikuzaka Institute of the Hakuba-kai. In the autumn of the same year, he moved to the institute in Tameike, Akasaka, where he met and became friends with Nakahara Teijiro, Tsuruta Goro, and others. In 1907, he transferred to the Taiheiyogakai Institute, where he studied under Nakamura Fusetsu and Mitsutani Kunishiro. In 1908, after visiting Ogiwara Morie together with Nakahara, he became involved with Shinjuku Nakamuraya, which at the time was a gathering place for many artists. In 1911, through the kindness of Soma Aizo and his wife Kokko, he moved into a studio behind Nakamuraya. During this period, he produced numerous works using Toshiko, the couple's eldest daughter, as his model. He also studied the works of Rembrandt, Renoir, Cézanne, and others, while seeking to develop an artistic style of his own. In 1909, he received an Encouragement Prize at the 7th Taiheiyogakai Exhibition and an Honorable Mention at the 3rd Bunten Exhibition. At the Bunten, he received Third Prize at the 4th, 5th, and 8th exhibitions, and a Special Selection award at the 10th exhibition. At the Teiten, he was recommended for unrestricted admission as an artist exempt from jury review, as well as for service as a judge and committee member. However, his longstanding illness progressed, and he eventually died from the disease.