was a famous Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese modern painter of the nihonga

Nihonga

or literally "Japanese-style paintings" is a term used to describe paintings that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials...

 style of watercolour painting. His original name was Yoshizo (義三)。 The name Togyu referred to a poem from his father who ran a publishing business.

Okumura is characterized by his works which achieve unusual, exquisute quality of colours through the application of the white gofun pigment 100 or 200 times as foundation.

Biographical details

• 1889 Born in Kyōbashi
  Kyobashi
  is the name of a bridge as well as the geographical region around it. Two regions with this name exist in Japan, one is in Tokyo and one lies in Osaka. It refers to a bridge connecting roads to the capital in castle towns.-Tokyo:...
  
  , Tokyo
  Tokyo
  , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
  
  .
• 1900 Completes shogakko (junior school).

• 1926 Makes the acquaintance of Hayami Gyoshu
  Hayami Gyoshu
  was the pseudonym of a Japanese painter in the Nihonga style, active during the Taishō and Shōwa eras. His real name was Eiichi Maita.Gyoshū was born in the plebian downtown district of Asakusa in Tokyo. He studied traditional painting techniques as an apprentice to Matsumoto Fuko from the age of 15...
  
  .

• 1959 Becomes a director of the Japanese fine arts institute.
• 1962 Awarded the Japanese Order of Culture
  Order of Culture
  The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature or culture; recipients of the order also receive an annuity for life...
  
  .
• 1978 Appointed chief director of the Japanese fine arts institute.

• 1990 Dies aged 101.

Major works

• 鳴門 （1959, 128.5×160.5 cm）
• 鹿 （1968,　114.7×145.0 cm）
• 醍醐 （1972,　135.5×115.8 cm）
• 閑日 （1974,　73.0×100.0 cm）
• 吉野 （1977,　108.6×184.4 cm）
• 富士宮の富士 （1982,　76.1×115.1 cm）
• 蠣 （1984,　102.0×131.0 cm）
• 寅 （1985,　16.2×49.5 cm）

Books and collections of work

• スケッチそのをりをり （collection of sketches, 1917）
• 牛のあゆみ （autobiography, 1974）

Major collections holding works by Okumura

• Okumura Togyu Memorial Museum (Nagano prefecture
  Nagano Prefecture
  is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...
  
  )
• Yamatane Museum
  Yamatane Museum
  The Yamatane Museum is a museum in Japan specializing in the nihonga style of Japanese watercolour painting. It is run by the Yamatane art foundation....