(b Asakuma-mura, Mie Prefect., 17 Oct 1897; d Asakuma-mura, 1 Nov 1935). Japanese sculptor. He went to Tokyo in 1919 and the following year became a pupil of Chozan Sato (1888–1963), a member of the Japan Art Institute; he lived with the Sato household for six years. In 1922 Hashimoto’s sculpture Cat (wood, h. 350 mm, 1922; Tsu, Mie Prefect. A. Mus.) was accepted for the ninth In-ten exhibition. In 1923 he left Tokyo because of the Great Kanto earthquake and went to live in Nara. In 1926 he returned to his home town in Mie, settling there permanently. In 1927 he exhibited his statue of a Naked Youth (wood, h. 1.54 m, 1927; Tokyo U. A., A. Mus.) at the 14th In-ten exhibition, a work reminiscent of ancient Egyptian sculpture. In the same year he became a member of the Japan Art Institute. In 1930 he exhibited Goddess Playing in a Flower Garden (wood, h. 1.22 m, 1930; Tokyo U. A., A. Mus.) at the 17th In-ten exhibition, a characteristic work: the entire body of the goddess was carved so that the head, torso, arms and legs are like flower petals, and within this, the image of a butterfly can be seen; although representing a young female, the body seems genderless, and her facial expression is reminiscent of Buddhist sculptures. In his later years Hashimoto was deeply impressed by a 17th-century Buddhist statue that he saw in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture; this was done by the monk Enku. Under Enku’s influence he produced wooden sculptures with the sharp chisel marks still visible, such as that of the Buddhist monk Ryokan (wood, h. 274 mm, 1934; Tokyo U. A., A. Mus.). His theory of sculpture was published in a book called Junsui chokoku ron (‘A theory of pure sculpture’) in 1942.