#259 Japan...Thanks Asuka!

The 80 yen stamp is from 2010 Philately Week issue showing a painting by Hashimoto Gaho (桥本雅邦).

Hashimoto Gaho was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo) in 1835. His father, who was also a painter, died when Hashimoto was 13. In 1882, Hashimoto's work at an exhibition organized by the Meiji government received recognition from Okakura Tenshin (冈仓天心) and Ernest Francisco Fenollosa. Later, when the Tokyo School of Arts was founded, Hashimoto was appointed professor of Japanese painting there. Hashimoto pioneered a new style of Japanese painting, which incorporated elements of Western painting into traditional painting techniques, and became a major figure in Japanese painting circles during the Meiji Period (1868-1912). He died in 1908.