In 1904, determined to become a painter in oils, he entered the Shogoin Institute of Western Painting and studied under Chu Asai together with Ryuzaburo Umehara, who was already there. In 1907 he went to France with Seifu Tsuda and enrolled at the Académie Julian in Paris. After returning to Japan he was elected a member of the Nika-kai and continued to show at its exhibitions. In 1935, however, on being named a member of the Imperial Art Academy, he left the Nika-kai and formed the Issui-kai. In 1944 he became a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and after the war was elected the first chairman of the Japan Artists Association. In 1952 he retired from Tokyo University of the Arts and received the Order of Culture in the same year.