Sanzo Wada graduated from the Western-style painting division of Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Studied in Europe 1907-1915; traveled to India and Burma. Appointed Member Imperial Arts Academy in 1927 and taught at Tokyo School of Fine arts from 1927.

According to Shinagawa Kiyoomi, editor-in-chief of the book of paintings in print 'Dia Nihon Gyorui Gashuu' by Ohno Bakufu, Sanzo Wada wanted to make a series of prints that expressed the rapid modernisation that Japan was experiencing in the 1930s. As an example of this modernisation, he chose to depict workers in Showa-era occupations, not just those occupations of recent times, but also those traditional occupations that were gradually disappearing.

To do this, Wada brought together woodblock print printers and carvers from as far away as Kyoto and Tokyo, and housed them and their families in a lodging house that he purchased in Nishinomiya near Kobe. The publication of this series by Nishinomiya Sho-In, called 'Japanese Vocations in Pictures' (Showa Shokugyo E-Zukushi) commenced in Showa 13 (1938), and it was Wada's plan to publish 2 new prints every month until a total of 100 designs had been completed. His prints often appeared in the main Japanese newspapers, and Asahi Newspaper even used their resident woodblock print artist Yoshida to critique Wada's work. This series by Wada became an instant hit, and orders for his prints flooded in, not just from customers in mainland Japan, but also from places as far away as Karafuto (the Japanese name for Sakhalin Island), Manchuu (the pre-war Japanese name for Manchuria), and even Singapore. However, (according to Shinagawa Kiyoomi) because to the deteriorating domestic conditions due to the war, publication was suspended Showa 18 (1943).

In the end, Wada was only able to publish a total of 48 prints during the war period, as two series each containing 24 prints. New prints were indeed issued a pair at a time on a monthly basis, but perhaps due to war-time hardships there were no prints published in some months. After the war, Kyoto Hanga-In continued the series under the name 'Continuing Japanese Vocations in Pictures', with 24 scenes being published (during the period 1954 to 1956), so the originally planned issue of a total of 100 scenes was not fulfilled. I have been able to confirm that the pre-war series were limited-editions of 300 prints per scene. The first pair of prints were issued in June 1939, and the latest confirmed date for prints 21 and 22 from the second series were issued in June 1941. Soon after Wada issued a limited edition set in a deluxe album containing all 48 prints.

The third series published in the 1950s by Kyoto Hanga-In entitled 'Continuing Japanese Vocations in Pictures' (Zoku Showa Shokugyo Ezukushi) was issued as a limited-edition series of 200 prints. The earliest print date is November 1954, and the last print date is September 1956.