Murayama Tomoyoshi (村山知義) grew up in Tokyo. Like his mother, he was a Christian. He began studying philosophy in 1921 and went to Berlin for a year in 1922 to study theology. However, he decided to pursue a career as a writer and artist. In Germany, he became acquainted with Expressionism and Constructivism. Back in Japan, he became involved in proletarian theater and became a leading representative of the artistic avant-garde; he was called the „da Vinci of Japan“. He stood up for the little people and criticized Japanese militarism and the restrictions on freedom of expression in the 1930s and 1940s. He was repeatedly imprisoned for this.

Murayama visited Korea repeatedly from 1938 onwards. He was seriously interested in Korean culture and literature and wanted to make them known in Japan. He lived in Korea temporarily in 1945. He then worked as a theater director. In 1957, he traveled to Korea again with his troupe. Murayama died in 1977.

Among Murayama's best-known works are his illustrations for „The Bear Family こぐまさんの家族“ (1927).

„Construction コンストルクチョン“ (1925) (Note the original German title!)