Bumpei Akaji

In 1943 he joined the United States Army and was sent to Italy with the 100th Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

[2] After discharge from the army, he stayed in Italy to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and at the Academia de Belle Arti, Brera, on a Fulbright Scholarship.

In 1950, he returned to Honolulu, and in 1951, was the first to receive a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

[2] Akaji was a member of the Metcalf Chateau, a group of seven Asian-American artists with ties to Honolulu.

The welded and/or pounded surfaces of his sculptures are often warm and sensual and over time develop a unique patina.