Born in Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai Region, he used the name Kamei Tōbei until 1953 when he changed it to Kamei Genbei. He was a graduate of the Kyoto Technical School of Painting. He became interested in prints while an undergraduate. He was a founding member of Kyoto Sosaku Hanga Kyokai in 1929. He contributed to Uchida published series Fifty Studies in Flowers and Twenty-Four Views in and out of Kyoto collaborating with Kotozuka Eiichi and Tokuriki Tomikichirō. He created a series of postcard-size prints titled Ten Lovely Sights in Tokyo and Ten Lovely Sights in Kyoto. He founded Kōrokusha publishing house with Kotozuka and Tokuriki. From 1937 he exhibited Japanese-style painting (nihonga) and in 1950 became a member of Seiryusha.