Keigetsu Kikuchi was born in Nagano prefecture with the given name Kikuchi Kanji. He travelled in Europe during the twenties with two of his art colleagues. Back in Japan he became a teacher of art at the Kyoto City School of Fine Arts and Crafts and at the Kyoto City School of Painting. His favorite subjects were Bijin-ga - images of beautiful women. In 1934 he was honored by being appointed a member of the Imperial Art Board and in 1937 as a member of the Imperial Art Academy.
