Shōdō Hirata

• Name — Hirata Shōdō • Birth Name — Eiji Hirata • Born — February 2, 1882 • Birthplace — Tokyo, Japan • Died — 9 January 1971 • Place of death — Tokyo, Japan • Field — Painter • Education — Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts • Movement — Nihonga • Spouse — Shizuko Hirata • Father — Hirata Tosuke • Mother — Hirata Tatsu • Children — * Masaharu Matsushita (son) • Katsumi Hirata (daughter) • Relatives — * Yamagata Isaburō (uncle) • Yamagata Aritomo (Great-uncle) • Maeda Toshiaki(Nanokaichi Domain) (father in law) Maeda Toshisada (brother in law) Toshinari Maeda (brother in law) • Family — * Hirata Noboru (brother) Masayuki Matsushita (grandson) Hiro Matsushita (grandson)

Shodo Hirata was born in 1882 in Ushigome, Tokyo. He was the second son of Count Hirata Tosuke, who was a Japanese statesman and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan, active during the Meiji and Taishō periods of the Empire of Japan.

After studying under Kawai Gyokudo, he entered the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts in 1901 and graduated in 1906. Hirata Shodo participated in the very first art exhibition organized by the Japan Art Academy, called BUNTEN, in 1907. His painting Yuku Aki was selected for recognition and his works were equally favoured at future BUNTEN exhibitions. In 1921, he became a professor at the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts. He also served as a judge at the 7th Imperial Exhibition in 1926. He was the chairman of the Dai-nippon Drawing and Handicraft Association, and a member of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Drawing Textbook Compilation committee.

• Autumn (1907) • Autumn Colors (1910) • Autumn in the Trees (1912) • The Voice of a Small Bird (1914) • Matsukanno Haru (Spring Between the Pine) (1915)