Scottish born artist Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956) a self taught watercolor artist traveled to Japan in 1915 to visit her sister. Her short planned visit turned into a nine year stay. She traveled across Asia and when she returned to Tokyo and in 1919 she held a small exhibition at the Peers Club of her watercolors which caught the attention of Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe persuaded Keith to allow his carvers and printers to produce woodblock prints of some of her paintings. From 1919 to 1939 Watanabe published slightly over one hundred Elizabeth Keith woodcuts depicting scenes and peoples of Japan, Korea, China and other Asian countries. She returned to England in 1924 but frequently returned to Japan till 1939 when the mobilization for the Second World War forced her return permanently to England.
