Kokuta Suda was born in Fukiage (present day Konosu), Saitama Prefecture and after finishing school, studied drawing at the Kawabata Drawing School before leaving to continue studying on his own. At this early stage he had two failed applications for the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko) however he was not discouraged and continued to show his work at state exhibitions including Bunten and Shin-Bunten, winning various awards in 1936, 1939 and 1942.

In 1948 Suda became a member of Han Artists Association (Han Bijutsu-ka Kyokai); a group founded by Jiro Yoshihara (1905-1972). Up until this point Suda’s work had been largely figurative, however in 1949 he was introduced to abstract painting by the influential avant-g...