Description on the reverse of the greeting card the willow tree is a symbol of grace and strength koitsu was born in 1870 near hamamatsu shizuoka prefecture moving to tokyo at the age of 15 he became an apprentice studying under the master kiyochika and moving into his home for 19 years during which they formed a family like bond the subtle use of light and shadow in his landscapes is a trademark of this highly recognised japanese artistquality heavy weight luxurious pearlescent paper