Koyama Shōtarō

His began his artistic education at a private school in Tokyo operated by Kawakami Tōgai, then took lessons at the Technical Fine Arts School (now the Tokyo Institute of Technology), operated by the Ministry of Industry.

During his military service, he also studied watercolor painting with the French artist, Abel Guérineau [ja] under the auspices of the Ministry of the Army.

In 1889, together with Asai Chū, Matsuoka Hisashi and others, he created the Meiji Art Association [ja].

Meanwhile, he had opened his own painting school in the Hongō district of Tokyo, that he called Fudō-sha (不同社; roughly, "diversity").

Many famous yōga style painters were among his students there, including Nakamura Fusetsu, Yoshida Hiroshi, Mitsutani Kunishirō, Aoki Shigeru and Kanokogi Takeshirō.