Personal History
Beginning of painting from the fifth grade of elementary schoo
Seiichi Konno was born on March 1, 1921 in Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture as the only child of Seikichi Konno who was a medical practitioner. The next year, his father died suddenly, and he was brought up by his mother,
Setsu Konno. He said that his first memory was the vivid red flames of a big fire in Hachinohe in 1924 at the age of three. In the 5th grade of elementary school (when he was 10 years old), he began oil painting, an interest which continued through his junior high years. It led him to enter deeply into the world of painting.
Departure to the front during the first departure of students (for the
front) in World War II
In April of 1941、he entered the law department of Chuo University. While painting, he visited museums and art galleries, and he was deeply struck by the painting “Wheat field with Crows” at the exhibition of the impressionists and post impressionists in Ginza, Tokyo. The experience of seeing this painting with his own eyes became a valuable lesson in the great power of beauty. He later learned that it was Van Gogh’s last work. In 1943, he was conscripted at the first departure of students for the front in World War II. Before his departure, he went to Lake Towada thinking it was his last chance to visit. After returning to Tokyo, he painted “Moonrise,” thinking it his last painting. He couldn’t complete it before entering the army, but he later wrote that it was the work that marked the beginning of his life as a painter.
At Lake Towada before going to the front
“Moonrise” oil painting, 1943
Sorrow and pain because of sending out special attack corps (kamikaze pilots)
In1943, he was drafted into the Hirosaki 131st Unit. The next year, after
he finished cadet training in Narashino Ciba Prefecture, he was assigned to
Obihiro Air Corps. He brought a sketchbook, pastels, and a portable
brush-and-ink case for black – and－white painting and was painting secretly
when he had time. In March 1945, he was transferred to Shanghai Hongqiao
International Airport in China as Army Aviation Second Lieutenant. His duty
as a Special Forces Personal Officer to send out young men of the same
generation to the front left him with “an inescapable deep sorrow and pain
that pierced him to the very core,” leaving deep emotional scars. The war
ended on August 15, 1945. He lived a life of internment in Shanghai as a
prisoner of war until March 1, 946, after which he returned to Japan. During
his time as a POW, he had an interaction with musician Ryosuke
Hatanaka（1922~2012）.
Military era
Ryosuke Hatanaka writes about their interaction
during their internment in his book
Moving to the Mukaiyama Kogen Highlands, being unable to paint
He returned to Hachinohe in 1946, but he had lost the will to paint. He
moved to the remote highlands of Shimoda Village (now Oirase- cho) in order
to absorb the rich life force of nature and the earth in mind and body, and
began to live a self-sufficient life in a hut he built. Life gradually
settled down, but the days when he was unable to paint continued. In 1949,
he worked as a high school teacher in Hachinohe and spent his days going
back and force between Mukaiyama and Hachinohe. He married Michi Kashiwazaki
in May, 1951, and their first child, a daughter, was born in March of the
following year.
Self -sufficient life keeping domestic animals
Resuming painting in Hachinohe
As he had been having a persistent low-grade fever, he moved back to
Hachinohe to recover and receive treatment. When his fever began to subside,
he became able to paint little by little, and he gradually became prolific.
He held a solo exhibition from 1955 to 1958. His son was born in 1956. After
he put on an exhibition titled “Hiroshima Sketch” at the age of 38, he came
to think that painting was the most reliable means of contemplation, so he
decided to cease exhibiting his works and to continue painting entirely in
silence.
Teaching Period
He attended the Fifth Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in 1959
His faith that deeply supported his works of painting
Creating paintings became his daily life, but his sadness from the war
didn’t vanish, and made him continue to ask himself heavy questions over
time. Without finding the answers, he encountered the Catholic faith. He
began to attend an abbey in Tokyo and was baptized as a Catholic at the age
of 49 in 1970. It was the turning point for him to become an abstract
religious painter. He signed his Christian name “Raffaello” on his works and
came to paint many works with religious themes. In 2003, he completed his
works in 36 volumes titled, “Sogen Gakan”, which means “the painted scroll
of going back to the origin.” It was his life’s work to paint as a poem to
God. After seeing through his first sole exhibition held in 45 years, which
was sponsored by a newspaper company, he passed away on April 1, 2005
