was a Japanese sculptor who exerted himself for the modernization of wood carving and a professor of Tokyo School of Fine Arts, who dedicated himself to the education of the future generations.[1]
Born in Tokyo as Nakajima Kōzō,[2] he created the bronze statue of Saigō Takamori, completed in 1898, which stands in Ueno Park in Tokyo.[3] He is also the author of the statue of Kusunoki Masahige which stands in front of the Tokyo Imperial Palace.[4]
He studied under Takmura Tōun (高村東雲), a sculptor of Buddhist statues, whose elder sister became Kōun's adoptive parent. He was the father of the poet and sculptor Kōtarō Takamura.[5]
One of his representative works is "Aged Monkey" (Rōen).[6]