Printmaker Kenji Ushiku was born in Chiba Prefecture, Honshu, Japan, in 1922. His formal art education took place at the Tokyo School of Fine Art where he studied printmaking and Western-style painting. He began publishing etchings in the early 1950s and his work was particularly sought after in mid-century Japan and the U.S. In his early career Ushiku focused on still lifes and animals, and occasional scenes of bucolic farmlife; much of this work was executed in color etching and aquatint. Later works tended toward abstraction, with relief prints in minimalist shapes and palettes.

His work is held in the collections of the Chiba Prefecture Museum of Art, the Chiba City Museum of Art, the Sakura Museum of Art, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, the Brooklyn Museum of Art; the Georgetown Museum of Art; the Library of Congress, and the Honolulu Museum of Art, among others. He participated in the Tokyo International Print Exhibitions of 1957, 1960, and 1962, and was a member of the Japan Print Association.

An exact date of his death is not formally listed online, however, some sources state Ushiku died in 2012.