Hasui Kawase was born May 18, 1883 with the given name Bunjiro in Shiba, Tokyo as the son of a merchant family. As a child Hasui learned to paint in Western style. His first teacher was Saburosuke Okada who taught him watercolor and oil painting. Hasui Kawase is one of the great masters of the shin hanga movement. Shortly before his death, he was declared a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government.