Hajime Kato was born in Kanda, Tokyo on February 7th, 1925, and lived his life at full speed, both as a painter and a competitive cyclist, right up to his death in Paris on February 10th, 2000. As a young man he was an all-out cyclist. Following World War II, between 1947 and 1949, he won several titles in various categories, and was a candidate for the Olympic team to compete in Helsinki. Unfortunately, because of a large land tax bill that fell upon the family home, he had to give up his Olympic debut. He became a professional cyclist of Keirin, which was a humbling experience for a top athlete at the time. Kato, however, turned this bitter experience into a source of motivation. He became Vice President of The International Professional Cycling Federation. In this role, he achieved three major goals,1st to include Keirin, which was not well respected at the time, as a world championship event.; 2nd to have a Japanese cyclist competing in a World Championship; and 3rd to host a World Championships in Japan. His love for painting since childhood was also well known. As a boy, he devoted himself to drawing airplanes, and has left a great number of detailed sketches where one can even sense the texture of the steel used. Kato was 2 when his father passed at the age of 33. When he turned 33, that he decided to test his potential as a painter, throwing away everything and escaping Japan for Paris. For 42 years, he worked in his studio, building his own style and doing his best to avoid falling under the influence of the Paris art world. His first 10 years in Paris were spent executing various novel ideas, but he seemed to find his own style in the late 1960s. Kato’s distinctive style using curving lines to express "l'envol" (flight) began to appear around 1970s. To achieve a certain translucent finish, he gradually shifted his painting style away from the impasto to his own method of using multiple coating of thin layers of paint. In 1970, Kato became a member of Salon d'Automne - exhibition of the works of young artists held every fall in Paris since 1903. The Salon d’Automne, founded by a group of painters including Renoir; has showcased the most impressive modern art movements, including works from Gaughan, Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso among others. The same year, he received the first of a lifelong series of invitations to exhibit at the Salon Comparaison and the SNBA exhibition. During his solo exhibition in 1983 at the, Aubusson National School of Decorative Art in France, Kato's works were praised by the then Minister of State in charge of European Community. Mr. Chandernagor stated in his opening ceremony speech "a happy marriage between East and West as well as tradition and modern age." In 1991, Kato received a special honorary award from the Ministry of the Environment at the 100th anniversary of Salon National des Beaux Arts (SNBA). Kato would remark on occasion that while there is a white finishing line in a bicycle race, no such goal exists in the art world - it is sort of like chasing a mirage. “Of course my life has not been dramatic like in the movies. I was but one of many Japanese men of the same generation living in the Showa era. To stop is to fall down, so I had to keep running. On top of this, I have been obsessed with desire to run at full speed, and that lingers to this day. So if the desire or motif ceased to exist then perhaps I have no other way but to gracefully be brought to ruin.” He mentions this in the introduction of his autobiography. Kato’s implacable desire to paint never disappeared throughout his life. With an incredible amount of effort that amazed even his doctors, he continued to travel to his studio every day to work until two and a half months before he passed away. He completed a work for submission to the Salon d’Automne that year. At the end of January 2000, in between morphine shots when he was conscious, he was asked “What is it that you want to do most?” and he answered promptly and clearly “I want to paint!” Those were the last clear words he ever said.