Azechi (1902-1999) was born in Ehime prefecture. The son of farmers, he knew from a young age that he wanted to be an artist and was eventually able to make his way to Tokyo. Through artist friends he was able to get a job with a government print maker and started self-studying the art of print making using the tools at work. Himself an avid mountaineer, his works focused on mountain scenes and the "mountaineer." Another common subject in his works is the ptarmigan, native to the Japanese Alps. Azechi spent the later part of his life working as a freelance artist, writing for journals about mountaineering and spending time with friends in the mountains.