Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Shimizu Fujii was a composer and folk song researcher active from the Meiji to Showa periods. In 1916 (Taisho 5), he graduated from the Type A Normal Course of the Tokyo Academy of Music (now Tokyo University of the Arts). He served as a teacher at Kokura Girls' High School, a commissioned staff member at the Osaka Municipal Civic Hall, and a lecturer at Musashino Women's College. Through his collection, staff notation recording, and research of Japanese music, particularly folk songs, he established a unique compositional style rooted in ethnic characteristics. He left numerous excellent works in vocal music, including art songs and folk songs, and was highly praised by Kosaku Yamada. In cooperation with Yoshiaki (Kasho) Machida, he was responsible for transcribing the Kanto and Tohoku sections of NHK's 'Nihon Min'yo Taikan' (Grand Survey of Japanese Folk Songs) (1944-93). His works include 'Sado-ga-shima,' 'Kawarayagi,' 'Okayo,' 'Inuyama Ondo,' and 'Shinoda no Yabu.' According to Haruhiko Kindaichi's 'On the Works of Shimizu Fujii,' Kosaku Yamada reportedly remarked, 'There is someone in Japan who, by himself, studied what I went all the way to Germany to study for five years,' and further stated, 'The most excellent composer I know is Shimizu Fujii.'