Draft:Hiroko Takayama

Hiroko Takayama (Japanese: 高山博子) is a painter, vice president of the Hiroshima Japan-India Society, a member of the Japan Artists Federation, and a visiting professor at Tagore International University in India.

Personality and Activities
Born May 7, 1958 in Hiroshima, she graduated from Motomachi High School in Hiroshima, and entered Osaka University of Arts. (Graduated in 1982).

At the age of 23, she visited India for the first time. Since then, she has been fascinated by the mystique of India and has produced a series of passionate works, mainly on the theme of women in India. She has continued to improve her sketching skills on sketching trips throughout India and also trips to temples and other places in Japan.

In 2009, she taught as a visiting professor at Tagore International University, as well as  Rissho University and Hijiyama University.

Hiroko Takayama has served as a panelist at a symposium commemorating the 150th anniversary of Tagore's birth and at the International House of Japan (Iwasaki Koyata Memorial Hall) for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and India.

In 2022, "Upendra Maharati and Hiroko Takayama," an exhibition titled "Weaving Ties between Japan and India through Painting," was held at the Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art over a period of two months. (Organizers: Hiroshima Prefecture, Museum of Modern Art New Delhi, and Consulate-General of India)

Furthermore, on the occasion of the G7 Summit held in Hiroshima on May 20, 2023, she was invited by the Indian government to present her art work  "Renge Shu Bodhisattva" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the meeting, Prime Minister Modi said to her , "I wish to launch a cultural exchange project between Japan, and we would like you to support us".

One year later, she established the "Hiroshima Japan-India Society". (The day of inaugural general meeting was held  May 20, 2024 which was exactly the same day when Hiroko Takayama met Prime Minister Narendra Modi)