Ogawa Ken’ichi Hōjitsu 小川憲一 豊実 Born 1947, Kyoto
Works on Shikishi
Ogawa Ken’ichi Hōjitsu is a Japanese painter born in Kyoto in 1947. He studied art in the fine arts program of Kyoto Municipal Hiyoshigaoka High School, where his training included Western-style painting. Hōjitsu (豊実) is his documented art name.
At the age of twenty, Ogawa left Japan for Argentina. He subsequently spent approximately sixteen years in South America, travelling and continuing to paint. This extended period abroad became an important part of his artistic development and provided subjects that remained present in his later work.
After returning to Japan, Ogawa established an independent career and presented his work in numerous solo exhibitions in galleries, department stores and other venues in Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuyama, Kurashiki, Tokyo and elsewhere. His documented practice crosses conventional divisions between Japanese and Western media and includes watercolor, oil painting, sumi ink and nihonga.
Ogawa’s subjects range from landscapes, birds and flowers to imagery connected with his years in South America. Another strand of his work addresses Hiroshima, wartime bombing and historical memory. His smaller-format paintings include traditional Japanese subjects executed on shikishi, often signed with his art name Hōjitsu and an artist’s seal.
In later years Ogawa has continued to live and work in Hiroshima Prefecture. Together with his wife María Inés, he has been associated with the gallery café E to Ocha Terere in the Utsumi area of Fukuyama, where his paintings are exhibited. His career now spans more than six decades, from late-Shōwa Japan through his South American period and subsequent decades of independent artistic activity.
At the age of twenty, Ogawa left Japan for Argentina. He subsequently spent approximately sixteen years in South America, travelling and continuing to paint. This extended period abroad became an important part of his artistic development and provided subjects that remained present in his later work.
After returning to Japan, Ogawa established an independent career and presented his work in numerous solo exhibitions in galleries, department stores and other venues in Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuyama, Kurashiki, Tokyo and elsewhere. His documented practice crosses conventional divisions between Japanese and Western media and includes watercolor, oil painting, sumi ink and nihonga.
Ogawa’s subjects range from landscapes, birds and flowers to imagery connected with his years in South America. Another strand of his work addresses Hiroshima, wartime bombing and historical memory. His smaller-format paintings include traditional Japanese subjects executed on shikishi, often signed with his art name Hōjitsu and an artist’s seal.
In later years Ogawa has continued to live and work in Hiroshima Prefecture. Together with his wife María Inés, he has been associated with the gallery café E to Ocha Terere in the Utsumi area of Fukuyama, where his paintings are exhibited. His career now spans more than six decades, from late-Shōwa Japan through his South American period and subsequent decades of independent artistic activity.