Born in Sumoto in Hyogo Prefecture, Ogasawara Rintaro (also known as Ogasawara Hogai), studied with Kaji Tameya (?-1894) a Western-style portrait artist. He later worked in the manner of Asai Chu (1856-1907) a leading figure in the Kyoto art world and a proponent of Western-style painting. By 1896 he had moved to Kyoto where his pastel Noryo no zu won first prize in the fourth Shin kobijutsu-ten in 1898. He joined the Kansai Bijutsukai, an artists' cultural organization, in 1901. Only six years later Ogasawara relocated to Osaka, where he continued to develop the pastel works for which he is known.