Wada Sanzo
A Western-style painter born in Ikuno, Hyogo Prefecture. At the first Bunten in 1907 (Meiji 40) his "South Wind" won the top prize, and he later left achievements in color research and in color design for film.
Wada Sanzo was born in 1883 (Meiji 16) in Ikuno Town, Hyogo Prefecture (now Asago). He went to Tokyo, studied at Kuroda Seiki's Hakubakai institute, and in 1904 (Meiji 37) graduated from the Western painting department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. In 1905 (Meiji 38) he received the Hakubakai Prize.
In 1907 (Meiji 40), his "South Wind" (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Important Cultural Property), shown at the first Bunten, won second prize, which was the top award. It shows tanned, sturdy men on a small boat at sea. In 1902 (Meiji 35), Wada had been caught in a storm on a boat out of Ito and drifted until he reached Izu Oshima, and that experience is said to be the basis for the painting. He won the top prize again at the second Bunten the following year.
In 1909 (Meiji 42) he went to Europe as a Ministry of Education scholarship student and returned in 1915 (Taisho 4) by way of India and Burma (now Myanmar). He then devoted himself to the study of color, founding the Japan Standard Color Association in 1927 (Showa 2) to work on standardizing color samples. He was in charge of color design for Daiei's film "Gate of Hell," which won the Academy Award for Costume Design (color) in 1955. He became a Person of Cultural Merit in 1958 (Showa 33) and died in 1967 (Showa 42).