I saw his work for the first time last year. I was invited to see the numerous works of art owned by Akashi Hifuku, a company that manufactures student uniforms in kojima. There was a painting of a landscape that caught my attention. It made me warm inside with the feeling of nostalgia. I had actually seen that scene before. It was a view from Shimotsui. Hitsuishi-island, which has partially been carved away by the beams of the Great Seto Bridge, was positioned at the center of the painting in its beautiful appearance of long ago. There were numerous works that were apparently by the same artist; landscapes of Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, too. I learned that the painter used to live in Shimotsui. "These are works by Shuichiro Ato," said the Mr.Kawai, president of the company.

Shuichiro Ato is an unknown painter. Whether he placed himself distant from the Japanese art circles or was ignored by them, information on Ato is scarce. Today, 35 years after his death, there was never a time he caught any public attention. His life remains a mystery. Nevertheless, I chose to research him.

Shuichiro Ato was born 1888, at Asakuchi-City Kamogata-cho located west of Kurashiki-city. He enrolled in Kyoto Kansai Art School when he was twenty. Four years later, he joined Tokyo Kawabata Ga-Gakko (Kawabata Painting School). During this time, it is assumed that he studied under the direction of painter Takeji Fujishima. It is also known that he moved to Paris in 1923 to study under Emile-Rene Menard.

His background, along with the fact that he studied abroad in Paris, indicates that young Ato dreamed of making a name as a Western style painter. However, his actions in his late 30's after he returned to Japan are quite contrary to that. He had no fixed address, but traveled to places like Taiwan, Hokkaido, and Nara. He never stopped painting, but kept his distance from the Japanese art circle. The true reason remains a mystery now.

Before long, Ato moved to Shimotsui. Chiyoko Ogino, the daughter of Ato's cousin, resided in Shimotsui. She explained, "I believe he lived in Shimotsui during the war." Chiyoko looks back at that time. "He was of good upbringing. He was tall with good posture. He always smiled and used gentle words. His unselfishness showed on his face. He was like Buddha." As far as Chiyoko remembers, Ato "did nothing by paint pictures" while in Shimotsui. He had no children. He lived with his wife, Yoshie, whom he married after he returned to Okayama. His home was a small one-story house that stood on a slope. Life was humble.

Ato was frequently away for a while. He went on painting trips to Aomori, Akita, and Hokuriku -- or anywhere when he felt to do so. Money was tight. He seemed to have an acquaintance at each place who would offer him lodging and meals. In return for their kindness, Ato left his paintings there and moved on to his next location.

Yoshie passed away while Ato was gone on one of his trips to Tohoku. Receiving the sad news by telegraph, Ato immediately returned to Shimotsui and mourned his wife's death. That evening, he slept next to Yoshie, who had already been dead for several days.

He chose to paint closer to home in his later years. He continued to paint, finding someone to carry his painting materials in his last years when he had trouble walking. His life depended a lot on Chiyoko. According to Masako, Chiyoko's oldest daughter who often visited Ato, "I often delivered lunch boxes and food on a bicycle when I was in elementary school. The house had a small kitchen and a room the size of ten tatami mats. Paintings were scattered everywhere hardly leaving room to walk. Whenever I showed up, he would say, 'Oh, it was you. Thank you,' as if he was addressing a grown-up. I remember because it made me happy."

Ato had to spend time in a hospital after he reached eighty. He continued painting even at the hospital. Ato was a painter possessed by painting his entire life. Right before passing away, when he was asked what should be done with the paintings at home, he replied, "Let the ocean wash them away."

In August, 1972, Ato's life ended at the age of eighty-four. After his death, Chiyoko and her daughter Masako set out to see where Ato traveled in the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions. They were given a surprisingly warm reception wherever they went. There was a hotel called Yasumi-Ya in Towadako, Aomori Prefecture, where a large painting by Ato was hanging on the lobby wall. The president of the hotel himself took them by car to the places where Ato often painted.

Wherever they went, Chiyoko and her daughter saw Ato's work and listened to people's memories of the painter. The unknown artist died unknown, but remained in the memory of many.

I had the chance to see many of Ato's works during my research. His artwork probably appears common to those who know art, but in every painting, his brush seems full of joy. He saw beautiful scenes and painted them the way he saw them. For Ato, the act of painting itself must have brought him the greatest joy. I believe now that the nostalgia I felt when I saw Ato's painting for the first time was not simply that of my feeling towards the picture itself. Surely, from the hands of this artist who painted with the wholeness of his spirit all his long life, it was much more than that.