Tomiyama Taeko

Tomiyama Taeko (富山妙子, born in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture, November 6, 1921) is a Japanese visual artist whose work addresses themes relating to war and the complicated moral, emotional and social issues of colonial and post-colonial history in East Asia. Her works range from paintings and prints to multimedia slide presentations and more recently, installations.
Early life and education.
Tomiyama spent her youth in Dalian and Harbin in Manchuria. She studied at Joshibi Women's School of Art and Design (now Joshibi University of Art and Design) in Tokyo from 1938 to 1945, her studies were interrupted by war. Since the 1950s she has been traveling both inside and outside of Japan, using her art to express her commitment to social and political problems in the areas she visited. Her first experience was in the early 1950s when she went to work in the Chikuho mining region in Kyushu and from that experience she produced several drawings and lithographs and exhibited the works a few years later in Japan.
She is mostly known for dedicating her work to the victims of Japanese imperialism, in particular depicting the struggle of women sexually exploited by the Japanese army, known as comfort women.