Setsuko Piroche was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1933. She studied traditional Japanese painting with Setsu Asakura in Tokyo in 1947, and travelled extensively in India and Australia to study art as well. Setsuko immigrated to Canada in 1967 at the age of 35, settling in Vancouver, British Columbia where she held her first solo exhibition in 1969 at the Mary Frazee Gallery. She has worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, ceramics, textile art and woven sculptures before settling on printmaking.