BiographyTsubota Hōnen (b. 1889–after 1916) was born in Hyōgo Prefecture. His real name was Nobutsugu 信次. His style name (azana) was Bansaku 萬作. His other pen name was Hisanobu 古信. He studied under Miyoshi Kenko (三好寛古, 1839–1919) and researched the Sumiyoshi School 住吉派. Later, he studied bird-and-flower painting under Fukada Chokujō (深田直城, 1861–1947). He often mixed together techniques from various painting styles, and though he produced paintings in the genre of birds-and-flowers, landscapes, and figures, he was particularly skilled at history paintings and Buddhist paintings. He became a member of the Imperial Painting Association (Teikoku kaiga kyōkai). In his 20s, he lived in Kobe City.