Kenichi Sugimoto (1905–2004) was a Japanese Western-style painter, commercial artist, and illustrator born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. In 1925, he visited the painter Ryusei Kishida, who was staying in Kyoto, and became his pupil. In 1926, Sugimoto was accepted for the first time into the Shunyo-kai exhibition. From around 1927, he also worked as a commercial artist, designing posters for railway companies and promoting travel and tourism.
In 1938, he became a member of the Kokuga Association, and from around 1940 he developed a deep fascination with the landscapes and culture of Nara. In 1949, through the introduction of the Buddhist priest Ka'un Kamiji of Todaiji Temple, he was given the use of an old storehouse at the temple's Kannon-in as a studio, where he continued to paint scenes of Nara.
From 1950, Sugimoto illustrated Eiji Yoshikawa's epic novel The New Tale of the Heike (Shin Heike Monogatari), and later illustrated works including The Private Record of the Taiheiki (Shihon Taiheiki), gaining widespread recognition. In 1971, he left the Kokuga Association and became an independent artist, continuing to paint landscapes in Japan and abroad until his death in 2004.