From 1938 to 1940, he studied in France under Matisse. In 1955, he traveled to New York, where he spent the next 20 years and changed his style to abstract painting. After returning to Japan in 1975, he traveled between his studios in Hawaii and Japan, continuing to produce abstract paintings of birds, animals, hands, and faces, all floating in clear, bright colors applied with a distinct rhythm. He believed that art should be available to everybody and produced stained glass and murals to be placed in public spaces. Consisting of powerful, bold colors and shapes, this work is one example of these.