After graduating at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1920, where he had studied under academic painter Kanokogi Takeshirô (1874-1941), a follower of Asai ChÅ«, Nakamura Ken'ichi went to France in 1923, just like his teacher had done before him. He returned in 1928, was a founding member of the Nihon Hanga Kyôkai, and made woodcuts of scenery and bijin-ga in the 1930s. During the war he was a well-known war-painter. In 1950 he became a member of the Imperial Arts Academy.
