Print artist. He was born in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, in northern Honshu, but his family moved to Tokyo early in his life. He was largely self-taught, though he did attend classes for three years at Musashino University of Art in an unofficial capacity in the post-war years. He first exhibited with the Japanese Print Association in 1955 and began a long and active international career at the Tokyo International Print Biennale in 1957 and Ljubljana in 1963. He has avoided figural subjects, but his works are based in the real world, and he has drawn much inspiration from fishing and the sea (see Petit). He is typical of the first post-war generation of 'Sosaku Hanga' artists in his emphasis on clarity of form and printing, and has achieved a consistent elegance through a very individual palette of oil pigments which he developed during the 1960s. Many of his later works have used patterns reminiscent of the Japanese 'obi' (sash worn with the kimono). His most extensive series have been 'Distant Memory', 'Dark Change' and 'Imagination'.

Bibliography
Smith, Lawrence, 'Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989: Woodblocks and Stencils', BMP, London, 1994, p. 21 and no. 126.
Hasegawa, Kimiyuki (ed.), 'Gendai hanga zukan', Keisuisha, Tokyo, 1977, p.38.
Amano, Kunihiro, "Jiguso ga: Gyoshaku suru watashi jishin" (A Jigsaw: Condensing Myself), 'Hanga geijutsu', 11, autumn 1975, pp. 79-85.
Petit, Gaston, '44 Modern Japanese Print Artists', I, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1973, pp. 56-7.
Merritt, Helen, and Yamada, Nanako, 'Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints 1900-1975', University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1992, p. 9.
Smith, Lawrence, 'The Japanese Print Since 1900: Old Dreams and New Visions', BMP, London, 1983, no. 133. - British Museum website