Born in Tokyo, Japan as Hajime Ito, Shinsui has been described as an unrivaled painter of women and a master of design. Shinsui began his artistic training at the age of twelve in the drawing department of the Tokyo Printing Company before joining the painter Kiyokata Kaburagi in his workshop. By 1916, Shinsui had completed his first woodblock print, followed by his first series Eight Views of Lake Biwa a year later. Although he is widely known for his depictions of bijin-ga (beautiful women), Shinsui also continued to create landscapes. In 1952, his mastery of woodblock design was designated as Intangible Cultural Property, an event commemorated with the print Tresses (1952). In 1970, two years before his death, Shinsui received the Order of the Rising Sun. Awarded by the Japanese government, the design of the badge of the Rising Sun symbolizes energy as powerful as the sun; similar to the "rising sun" concept of Japan ("Land of the Rising Sun").