Yokoyama Taikan studied under Hashimoto Gaho (1835-1908) at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts from 1889-1893. In 1895 he taught at the Kyoto Municipal School of Fine Arts and himself became a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts two years later. In 1898 he resigned to found the Nihon Bijutsuin. He was appointed court artist and member of the Imperial Fine Arts Academy in 1931. He was awarded the Asahi Culture Prize in 1933 and the Order of Cultural Merit in 1937, the first person to receive this honor. While his style changed direction several times in his career, Taikan is known for his realistic melding of Chinese, western and Japanese styles which he applied to his many depictions of Mount Fuji.