Shigeo Otake was born in Kobe, Japan, in 1955. In 1974, he enrolled in the Department of Fine Arts at Kyoto City University of Arts and joined the oil painting and mural workshop in 1976, where he studied fresco and tempera painting under the guidance of Kōji Yamazoe. Inspired by the strong enthusiasm for early Italian Renaissance art that characterized Kyoto City University of Arts at the time, Otake followed in the footsteps of his predecessors and embarked on a two-year study trip to Europe from 1976 to 1978. He later earned his bachelor’s degree in 1979 and his postgraduate degree in 1981 from the same university. After graduation, he became a trainee artist under the Agency for Cultural Affairs' domestic training program, studying under Tsunesaku Maeda.

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