Azechi was born on December 28, 1902, to a poor farming family in what is now Uwajima, Ehime.
He enrolled in an art correspondence course where he would send his work to Tokyo for critique.
[1] In 1920 he had the opportunity to move there, but returned home to Shikoku after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.
During this time, he was heavily influenced by Maegawa Sempan [ja] and Kōshirō Onchi.
Because he did so many landscapes and art depicting the natural world, he used mostly cool colors like blues, greens, and purples.