Famous Japanese sculptor Yoshinori Yasunaga (March 5 , 1902 – September 12, 1970) was born in Yokohama City as the eldest son of Toku Yasunaga, a feudal retainer of the Fukuoka Domain . He graduated from Fukuoka Prefectural Junior High School Shuyukan in 1919. Later he entered the Tokyo School of Fine Arts as a scholarship student with excellent grades and exemption from tuition fees. In 1927 he graduated from Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture. In 1931 he set up an atelier in Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward. In September of the same year he won the Kozo-sha award and became a member of Kozo-sha. After that he repeatedly exhibited at the Kokakusha Exhibition and the Imperial Art Academy Exhibition (Teiten). In 1941 he was drafted and assigned to Unit 449 of Daduzichuan in Dongning County, Mudanjiang Province, Manchukuo. After the war he settled in Fukuoka where he exhibited his work at the Japanese Art Exhibition (Nitten) and often served as a judge at the Nitten while living in a rural area. He served as an advisor to the Nitten Exhibition, chairman of the Fukuoka Prefectural Art Association and managing director of the Fukuoka UNESCO Association .
