(b Tokyo, 14 June 1920; d Tokyo, 20 Nov 1976). Japanese printmaker. From 1938 to 1942 he studied at the Tokyo Art School (now Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music). After World War II he exhibited works as a member of the Nihon Hanga Kyokai (Japanese Print Society) and Shunyokai artists’ association and also contributed prints to a variety of exhibitions. In 1951 he received an award in the first São Paulo Biennale for a representative work of his early period, Momentary Illusion (Tokyo, N. Mus. Mod. A.). In the following year he was also given an award at the Lugano International Print Biennial. From 1954 to 1955 he studied in Paris; during and after this time he received advice from Kiyoshi Hasegawa, who was a clear influence on his work. In later years he divided his time between creating illustrated books and illustrating numerous poetry anthologies of friends, and lecturing at the Tama Art University (1970–71) and Tokyo University (1972–6). Komai, while freely using various copperplate etching techniques, continually created lyrical, witty works, both figurative and abstract. He simultaneously played a role in the promotion of copperplate etching as an art form in post-war Japan. In 1980 the Metropolitan Art Museum in Tokyo organized an exhibition comprising approximately 400 works.

• Komai, Tetsuro
  • Japan, §IX, 3(iii)(g): Prints, after c 1900