Printmaker, painter, and sculptor Juichi Saito was born in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture on March 19, 1931. He first pursued oil painting in 1951, studying at the Western Painting Institute, Meguro, followed by private instruction under Kayama Shiro. He was also a member of and exhibited with the Shunyo-kai Society in the late 1950s. However, during a visit to Paris, a chance introduction to copperplate engraving by artist Yozo Hamaguchi led Saito to change course, and in 1958 he began studying at Stanley William Hayter’s experimental workshop, Atelier 17. Printmaking would become his preferred medium for many years.

In 1959 he entered five prints in the 1st Paris International Young Artist’s Biennale, and in November of that same year he returned to Japan. In 1960 he held his first solo exhibition at the Gendai Gallery, and entered the 4th Shell Art Award Exhibition, at which he was awarded the Shell Prize. In 1963 held another at the Nihonbashi Gallery in which he exhibited a copperplate etching series titled "Blue Light," a critically acclaimed show that would earn him the nickname Blue Saito. 

Saito's interest in sculpture began in the late 1960s when he studied stone carving under Onari Hiroshi. In 1977 he learned woodcarving techniques under Yoshio Yoshida and in 1977 he taught himself aluminum sculpture techniques. He was awarded the Cultural Prize of Kawasaki-shi and he was featured in an issue of Kikah hanga (Print Quarterly), published by Bijutsu Shuppansha in 1966, in which he detailed his copperplate printmaking technique. 

In addition to fine art, Saito taught printmaking at Wako University beginning in 1971. As well, he was the cover artist for Gunzo magazine for the year 1973, and in 1975 he was commissioned by Kawasaki City to design a mural for the Saiwai Ward Office, winning the Kawasaki Culture Award as a result.

Saito's work is represented in the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura; the New York Public Library; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Victoria & Albert Museum; Museum of Fine Arts Boston; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; MIE Prefectural Art Museum; and the Museum of Modern Art, Mexico.

Juichi Saito died in Shinjuku, Tokyo on December 31, 1992. A memorial retrospective of his work was held at the Kanagawa Prefecture Museum of Modern Art in 1995. 

Selected Exhibitions:
1957: Shunyo-kai Society, Kawasaki City (oil paintings)
1959: 1st Paris International of Young Artists, Paris, France (five copperplate etchings)
1960: Gendai Gallery (first solo exhibition)
1963: Nihonbashi Gallery, Tokyo (solo)
1972: Gin Gallery, Tokyo (solo, 3-dimensional paintings)
1978: Gallery Dai Nanana (solo, wood carvings)
Various: International Print Biennales of Tokyo, Cincinnati, and Ljubljana