Kengiro Azuma (1926 - 2016 ) was a Japanese Italian sculptor, painter, and teacher. Azuma was born March 12, 1926 in Yamagata, Japan to a family of bronze artisans.When he was 17, Azuma joined the Imperial Japanese Navy as a Kamikaze pilot, but the war ended before the time came for him to sacrifice himself. World War II and the discovery of the emperor's humanity had a great impact on the Japanese people. For Azuma personally, it created a spiritual void that pushed him towards art.
From 1949 to 1953, Azuma studied sculpture at the University of Tokyo. In 1956 he moved to Italy after receiving a scholarship from the Italian government. Azuma studied at the Brera Academy in Milan where he was a student and eventually the art assistant of Marino Marini. In 1966, his work was exhibited as part of "The New Japanese Painting and Sculpture" at the MoMa in New York.Wikipedia
