Born in Kanazawa. Family name Tomitaro. Initially Tsunetomi became an apprentice with a master woodblock carver and afterwards worked as a block carver for the newspaper Hokkoku Shinpo. He moved to Osaka to study nihonga under Ineno Toshitsune, who was a student of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. From 1901 Tsunetomi worked as an illustrator at the newspaper Osaka Shinbun. His painting 'Hideriame' ('Rain during sunshine'), was highly acclaimed as a new style of bijinga and he was awarded a prize at the fifth Bunten. In 1924 he founded Hakuyodo, a school and publishing house.In 1926 his most important work 'Sagimusume [the heron maiden]' was published. His students included Kitani Chigusa and Shima Seien. Source: Newland, Amy Riegle, "The Female Image" Hotei Publising, 2000