Ichiro Fukuzawa (January 18, 1898 – October 16, 1992) was a Japanese modernist painter credited with the establishment of Surrealism in Japan's artistic communities during the early 1930s. While Surrealist artists are known for their distinct focus on the human subconsciousness and dreams, Fukuzawa's Western-style (yōga) paintings depart from such conventions by instead providing sharply satirical commentaries on human behavior and systemic social issues in Japan, including the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and the adverse impacts of the 1973 Oil Crisis on the Japanese economy. Since he was associated with Surrealism's progressive ideas, Fukuzawa's art became a contentious issue for the Japanese State that led to his subsequent imprisonment and forced him to pursue pro-Imperial subjects during the Second World War. Fukuzawa's career was not limited to the Japanese islands as he traveled extensively across mainland Asia, Europe, the United States, and Australia where his exposure to key socio-political events and artistic styles influenced his later periods of creativity. Despite his violation of the Peace Preservation Law during World War II, Fukuzawa is celebrated as one of only a few individuals in Japanese history to have been imprisoned for breaking national laws and to be regarded as a Person of Cultural Merit and the recipient of the Order of Culture within his lifetime.
Source: “Ichiro Fukuzawa”, English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), excerpt