From the age of fourteen he was taught the elements of Japanese painting by a master and showed fine gifts. Determined to become a painter, he entered Seiho Takeuchi’s Chikujokai studio in Kyoto in 1911, training on the ground of bird-and-flower painting. In 1918 his work was selected for the twelfth Bunten at his first attempt, and he was selected repeatedly at the Teiten and Nitten thereafter. In the Showa era his manner changed towards an ever more decorative and lucid picture; holding to realism, he went on attempting birds and flowers in a fresh sensibility and rich colour. From 1937 to 1939 he taught at the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. He received the Japan Art Academy Prize in 1953 and became a member of the Academy in 1954, climbing steadily to become the foremost figure of the Kyoto painting world.