Sutemi Horiguchi

During his teenage years, he explored Western-style painting (yoga) of the Meiji period, working in a styles similar to Cézanne or Fauvism.

In their emotional manifesto, they proclaimed their desire to break free from the artless, historicist Western architecture being practiced in early 20th century Japan.

[3] Many of the group's early designs remained unbuilt, but the creative ideals of the group are visible in several independently completed structures: Horiguchi's Peace Exhibition pavilions and tower (1922), arched concrete bridges by Yamada and Yamaguchi Bunzo (including Yamaguchi's Hijiri Bridge in Ochanomizu, constructed in 1930), Ishimoto's Asahi Newspaper building (1929) and his Shirokiya Department Store (1931).

Horiguchi traveled to Europe in 1923 for 6 months, where he was able to study monuments of architecture in person that he had previously learned about in school.

He traveled to Marseilles, Lyon, Paris, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, Darmstadt, Magedeburg, Weimar, Amsterdam, London, and Athens.