Nankoku studied calligraphy under his father, Tenrai Hidai (the second son to Shokin Hidai). Following his father's death, the artist inherited his father's calligraphy research institute, Shogakuin. With this, he began managing thousands of precious monuments whilst simultaneously reopening the Shogakuin Publishing Department to publish high-quality literature for the purpose of education. In 1945, he created his first Avant-garde work, Den no Variation (lit. Lightning Variation), and displayed it the following year, shocking contemporaries.
Read MoreHaving held many solo exhibitions in both Tokyo and New York, the artist has been invited to participate in contemporary exhibitions and his work has been bought by several prominent collectors, i.e. by MoMA New York.
Furthermore, as part of his legacy, there have been active talks on calligraphy in 20 universities, such as Princeton and Oxford.
