Harada Rihakou (1890-1954), beginnings of a biography of the Dodoitzu’s illustrator

This article is the first attempt at a biography of the painter Harada Rihakou. The written sources mentioning him are diverse: newspaper articles, diary, correspondence, and even speeches. Figurative or iconographic sources boil down to a few sketches and photos taken in Europe. The first part sheds light on the painter's literary and artistic activities in the early 1900s in Japan. The second offers an analysis of the evolution of his style through the critical reception of his work and the illustrations published in Dodoïtsu.