Her given name was Tsune. In 1887 she entered the Kyoto Prefectural Painting School and attended the studio of Shonen Suzuki. When Shonen resigned the following year she left the school, entered his studio and took the name Shoen. In 1893, with Shonen’s permission, she entered the school of Bairei Kono; on Bairei’s death in 1895 she studied under Seiho Takeuchi, a senior fellow pupil. From this period come many works on historical and genre subjects, such as “Beauties of the Four Seasons” and “Yoshisada Listening to the Koto”. She went on to win prizes at exhibitions in Japan and abroad, including the Kyoto Municipal Exhibition of New and Old Art and the Paris International Exposition, and her ability was gradually recognised. In 1903 she gave up the family tea business to devote herself to painting. After the Bunten was founded in 1907 she showed major works there in succession and became one of its leading painters. In 1941 she became a member of the Imperial Art Academy, and in 1944 an Imperial Household Artist. In 1948 she became the first woman to receive the Order of Culture.