Hajime Ishimaru

Hajime Ishimaru was a Japanese painter who was active before and after World War II. The female painter, Shima Aoi, was his younger sister. The son of a doctor of Chinese medicine, he graduated from the Kyoto Imperial University School of Medicine. After graduation he opened a clinic in Osaka and studied seriously the western Yōga style at the Shinanobashi Western Painting Institute. He exhibited regularly at the Kansai-kai Exhibitions from the first in 1927 to the 30th in 1943, winning the Asahi Prize in 1929. During the same period, he also attended the annual Nika Exhibitions. In 1931, he initiated an association of Kansai painters introducing works of surrealism and cubism style. Seven years later, he participated in the formation of Kyushitsu-kai (Ninth Room Association) of avant-garde artists representing the Kansai art avant-garde art of this period. He retired from the art world at an old age and lived to the age of 100. The title listed in the art catalog, The sun shines most beautifully here differs greatly from the Japanese title of the painting: Seifuku, actually means Conquest.