InsideJapan News Network

Japanese painter Ikuo Hirayama has died at the age of 79, after suffering a stroke in the early hours of this morning (December 2nd), it has been announced.

According to the spokesperson for his art museum in Hiroshima, Hirayama died in a hospital in Tokyo.

Having been born on the island of Ikuchi in the Hiroshima Prefecture city of Onomichi, the painter was in the area when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945 and had illnesses linked to radiation exposure.

"At his lectures and in his literary works, Hirayama often talked about the island's abundant nature and warm residents, thanking his hometown for raising him," said the Mainichi Daily News.

He was most known for his art work based on the Silk Road and the Buddhist religion and was also a goodwill ambassador in 1988.

The painter also worked throughout his life to preserve the cultural heritages of his country, it is reported.

Written by Mark Smith.