Born in Fukuoka Prefecture. His given name was Haruyoshi; he used the names Choun and Katsuma. He first learned wood carving from Matashiro Takada, a Buddhist sculptor of his home province; later “The Filial Son of Yoro”, shown at the fourth National Industrial Exhibition in Kyoto in 1895, was noticed by Koun Takamura, and he moved to Tokyo and became his pupil. In 1900 he showed “Kehi Seisei” and other works at the Paris Exposition. In 1907, with Tenshin Okakura as chairman, he formed the Japan Sculpture Association with Unkai Yonehara, Denchu Hiragushi and others. Through that association and through the Bunten, Teiten, Shin-Bunten and Nitten he worked chiefly on figure sculpture, keeping the tradition of Japanese wood carving while taking in realist expression. Among his pupils were Choshun Matsuo and Chozan Sato. He served as a judge of the Teiten, as an Imperial Household Artist and as a member of the Japan Art Academy. Person of Cultural Merit.