Jin Osakabe was born in the Tochigi Prefecture near Tokyo. When he was 12 years old, his family moved to live in Tokyo. At 18 years of age, Jin entered the Tokyo School of Art. At the age of 22, he won his first of many prizes at the Teiten exhibition. In 1931, he married and opened his own studio in what is now Shinjiku ward. In 1940, Osakabe gained employment as an assistant professor in what is now Chiba University. In 1946 & 1948, he won top prizes at the Nitten. In 1951, he opened his first of 27 solo exhibitions which began with a showing at the Mitsukoshi Dept. Store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. In 1967, Osakabe is appointed as a judge at the Nitten for the first time. In 1976, at the age of 70, he exhibits at the Nichido Gallery.

Jin Osakabe paints in a realistic style. He is a master with both the brush and the painting knife. When asked why he did not travel to Europe, Mr. Osakabe smiled and said that there were many good landscapes in the Kyoto and Nara area which he still did not have time to paint.

A true artist, even in death, he made a motion with his wrist, as if he were painting.