When Tanabe Itaru went to the Tokyo School of Fine Arts he became a pupil of Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924), one of the best-known Western-style painters of the period. In 1912 he was one of the founding members of the Kôfûkai, an association of Western-style painters, together with Nagazawa Hiromitsu and Minami Kunzo (a.o.). He is mentioned as one of the "Holy War" (WWII) painters. He is also known to have made etchings and lithographs.
