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''Nihonga'' (lit. "Japan pictures" or "Japanese painting") is a term applied broadly to Japanese paintings of the [[Meiji period]] and onwards which employ traditional media and techniques. Also called "neo-traditional" painting, the term ''Nihonga'', along with the movement or genre itself, emerged around the 1880s as a reaction against the prominence of ''[[yoga|yôga]]'' (Western-style oil painting) and the decline of traditional modes of painting. The style has been described as "modernist," and combines elements of the style and techniques of [[Rinpa]], [[Kano school|Kanô school]], [[Tosa school]], ''[[ukiyo-e]]'', [[literati painting]], and other traditional painting schools with elements of Western technique and style including perspective, shading and modeling, attention to light sources and shadow, the absence of outline, and a degree of realism or naturalism, in compositions which most often feature traditional subjects or themes. Works are done not in oils, acrylics, pencil, charcoal, or other Western media, but in ink and colors on paper or silk, on hanging scrolls, handscrolls, folding screens, or other traditional formats. Gold and silver foil, mica, and other such materials employed by Rinpa, Kanô, and ''ukiyo-e'' artists are also sometimes used.

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In all of this, ''Nihonga'' bears similarities with ''[[shin hanga]]'', which might truly be described as the prints equivalent to what ''Nihonga'' is in the realm of painting. ''Shin hanga'' employed elements of ''ukiyo-e'' style and process, combining these with shadows, perspective, a degree of realism, and other elements of Western art, to depict scenes of traditional Japan, especially for Western audiences.

Galleries in Japan, artists' groups, and painters themselves continue to apply the term ''Nihonga'' to works produced today, and indeed ''Nihonga'' painters today continue to be commissioned to create works for traditional contexts. For example, the temples of [[Kennin-ji]] and [[Kencho-ji|Kenchô-ji]] employed painter Koizumi Junsaku to create dragon paintings for their ceilings in 2000-2002.<ref>Takahashi Tomoko. "[http://www.i-sys.info/serial/interview/14/interview14.html Interview]. Webmagazine i-sys (アイシス). 14 January 2005. (Translation by [[User:LordAmeth]] available [http://chaari.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/koizumi-junsaku-interview/ here].)</ref> The period from roughly the 1880s to 1930s, however, can be discussed as the real core period of the development of ''Nihonga'', with the question of what constitutes ''Nihonga'' in the post-war period becoming much more contested and debatable, as many artists begin to experiment and to deviate further from either traditional themes and subjects or traditional media and techniques.

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''Nihonga'' emerged out of a reaction against movements to fully embrace Western painting styles and techniques as part of the surge towards modernity, discarding traditional Japanese painting as non-modern, as backwards and as being "of the past."

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It is important to note, however, that a great many artists produced works in both the ''Nihonga'' and ''yôga'' modes, studying in one first before switching to the other, or dabbling simultaneously in both. This was a time when the art world was highly politicized, with rivalries between Tokyo and Kyoto, and between various factions within both ''Nihonga'' and ''yôga'', ~~but~~ the ~~rivalry between~~ ''~~yôga~~'' and ''~~Nihonga~~'' ~~was not such that artists could not have feet in both, especially in the 20th century~~, ~~after~~ the ~~initial battles over the direction "modern" Japanese art would take had passed~~.

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It is important to note, however, that a great many artists produced works in both the ''Nihonga'' and ''yôga'' modes, studying in one first before switching to the other, or dabbling simultaneously in both. This was a time when the art world was highly politicized, with rivalries between Tokyo and Kyoto, and between various factions within both ''Nihonga'' and ''yôga''; art historian [[Ellen Conant]] has argued that the efforts of Fenollosa and Okakura polarized unnecessarily,<ref>Conant. p14.</ref> an influence that lasted at least until [[1907]], when Okakura served as a judge at the first [[Bunten|Ministry of Education Juried Exhibition]]. Yet, at the same time, many artists still had their feet in both ''Nihonga'' and ''yôga'' circles, or practiced one before switching to the other.

It is also important to note that it was certainly not the case that schools of traditional painting had died out or stopped entirely at this time, or that Kanô, Rinpa, Tosa, ''ukiyo-e'', and literati painters had put down their brushes to pick up Western-style brushes for oils. Despite the rapid and dramatic changes the country had seen since the opening of ports to the West in [[1854]], and the [[Meiji Restoration]] in [[1868]], all of these schools, and others, continued, many of them as vibrant as ever, showing little or no discontinuities or shocks from the developments of these decades. Kanô and literati artists, and others with strongly artistically conservative foundations, especially those based in and around Kyoto, and those with strong connections to the kind of patrons, such as temples, which demanded traditional style artworks, were shielded to some extent from the rapid changes going on in Tokyo, and in less traditional sectors of society. Many of these artists also found work through commissions from the government, or in working at museums, including on conservation efforts.

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Most of the most prominent ''Nihonga'' artists traveled, studied, and showed abroad. To name just a few examples, Kanô Hôgai's "Kannon as Merciful Mother" was shown at the Paris Salon in 1883, and Yokoyama Taikan and [[Hishida Shunso|Hishida Shunsô]] traveled to India in [[1903]] and to Europe and the US afterward, while [[Shimomura Kanzan]] studied in England, funded by the Ministry of Education.

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Based on the Western model of the Salon, or juried exhibition, the [[Bunten]], or Ministry of Education Exhibition, was established in 1907. This and other exhibitions, many created as alternatives to the Bunten, as many artists saw themselves excluded due to political rivalries and officials' tastes, ran annually or semi-annually, becoming the chief venues for national art. Artists throughout the country strove to be seen at the Bunten, or other national shows, and more local shows declined.

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The Bunten was initially divided into sections for ''Nihonga'', ''yôga'', and sculpture, with separate judges (and display galleries) for each section. Many scholars identify this as having impeded creative development and cross-interactions between traditional and Western styles and techniques, and as having polarized the art world unnecessarily, forcing artists (and individual works) to be seen as either ''Nihonga'' or ''yôga'', one side or the other.

Some famous paintings of this period include the hanging scroll landscape "White Clouds, Red Leaves" (1890) by Hashimoto Gahô and "Fallen Leaves" (1909) by Hishida Shunsô, a pair of two-panel folding screens (''[[byobu|byôbu]]''), both of which display traditional themes in traditional formats in traditional media, with a combination of new, Western techniques and stylistic elements with those taken from the Kanô, Rinpa, and other schools. Yokoyama Taikan's "Floating Lights" (1909), a hanging scroll painting in mineral pigments on silk, employs traditional ''[[bijinga]]'' conventions to depict a scene in India, featuring Indian women in Indian garments (albeit with very pale faces and Japanese-looking features).

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===The Second Generation: 1910s-1930s===

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After Okakura's death in 1913, ~~Yokoyama~~, Shimomura, and a number of other artists took over as the leaders of the movement in Tokyo, ~~revitalizing~~ the ''Nihon Bijutsu-in'' and ~~organizing, briefly~~, annual juried exhibitions known as the [[Inten]].

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After Okakura's death in 1913, Taikan, Shimomura Kanzan, and a number of other artists took over as the leaders of the movement in Tokyo. With Gahô and Shunsô also having died by this time, Taikan lost influence, and was expelled from the jury of the Bunten in 1914. Revitalizing the ''Nihon Bijutsu-in'', he and his fellows then organized, alternative annual juried exhibitions known as the [[Inten]].

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The Bunten, as it continued, brought visibility and popularity to ''Nihonga''; by the 10th annual exhibition in 1916, the Bunten saw nearly 250,000 attendees, and many sales, not only to some small select group of collectors, but more widely and more popularly. However, the exhibitions (renamed Teiten, or "Imperial Exhibitions" in 1919), remained highly political, and conservative, rejecting works that were too progressive, experimental, or creative, as well as those by artists outside of the circles of the judges; many judges gave preference to their own students. While the Teiten did continue to serve an important role in maintaining a degree of visibility for, and popular interest in, ''Nihonga'', by serving as ''the'' national exhibition, pretending to be open to all and to represent all factions while actually being highly political and biased, the Teiten, like the Bunten before it, actually exacerbated factional rivalries, such as those between the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, the Japan Art Institute, and the [[Japan Art Association]] (''Nihon Bijutsu Kyôkai'').

[[Yasuda Yukihiko]], along with [[Imamura Shiko|Imamura Shikô]] and a number of others, meanwhile, founded a group known as the [[Kojikai|Kôjikai]] sometime in the first decade of the 1900s, which, along with the ''Nihon Bijutsu-in'', with which there was little or no rivalry, served as the focus of the movement for a time. [[Maeda Seison]] and [[Kobayashi Kokei]], who joined this society in 1907 and 1901, respectively, represent two other particularly prominent members of this second generation of ''Nihonga'' painters.

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''Nihonga'' paintings of this period, as of the previous period, vary widely in their subjects, and to a great extent in their style as well. While one of Imamura Shikô's more famous works depicts scenes in the tropics (based on a trip to India in 1914) on a handscroll in a lighter palette and a style resembling literati painting more closely than anything else, works such as "[[Byodoin|Amidadô]]" (1915) by Kobayashi Kokei and "[[Minamoto no Yoritomo|Yoritomo]] in a Cave" (1929) by Maeda Seison employed bold colors to depict historical scenes and sites.

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This period saw a great boom of interest among the painters (and more widely) in historical fashions, ancient treasures, and the like. Many artists traveling in the West, or in Kyoto and Nara, studied great treasures of the past, including profoundly famous and art historically significant Chinese works, and Japanese works which had been inaccessible either because of their location overseas, or secreted away in temples, shrines, or other private collections. One example of a famous work studied and copied by ''Nihonga'' artists at this time is the so-called "Admonitions Scroll" attributed to Gu Kaizhi (c. 344 - c. 406), acquired by the British Museum in 1903, which Kobayashi Kokei and Maeda Seison studied and copied on a trip to London in 1922. Works such as Maeda Seison's "Yoritomo in a Cave" and "Falling Flowers" (1904) by [[Kikuchi Keigetsu]]<ref>Szostak, John. "[http://szostak-nihonga-research.blogspot.com/ Kikuchi Keigetsu 菊池契月 "Falling Flowers" 落花, 1904]." Nihonga Research (blog). 28 September 2010.</ref> reveal extensive familiarity with the details of armor and other military accouterments of the time of the [[Genpei War]] (1180s).

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This period saw a great boom of interest among the painters (and more widely) in historical fashions, ancient treasures, and the like. Many artists traveling in the West, or in Kyoto and Nara, studied great treasures of the past, including profoundly famous and art historically significant Chinese works, and Japanese works which had been inaccessible either because of their location overseas, or secreted away in temples, shrines, or other private collections. One example of a famous work studied and copied by ''Nihonga'' artists at this time is the so-called "Admonitions Scroll" attributed to Gu Kaizhi (c. 344 - c. 406), acquired by the British Museum in 1903, which Kobayashi Kokei and Maeda Seison studied and copied on a trip to London in 1922. [[Kawabata Ryushi|Kawabata Ryûshi]], meanwhile, sometime around 1913-14, visited the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]], where a great many treasures of Japanese art collected by Fenollosa and Okakura, including the [[Kamakura period]] handscroll painting of "The Siege of the [[Sanjo Palace|Sanjô Palace]]", were now held. Works such as Maeda Seison's "Yoritomo in a Cave" and "Falling Flowers" (1904) by [[Kikuchi Keigetsu]]<ref>Szostak, John. "[http://szostak-nihonga-research.blogspot.com/ Kikuchi Keigetsu 菊池契月 "Falling Flowers" 落花, 1904]." Nihonga Research (blog). 28 September 2010.</ref> reveal extensive familiarity with the details of armor and other military accouterments of the time of the [[Genpei War]] (1180s).

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In this way, ''Nihonga'' represented for both artists and viewers a rediscovery of many elements of Japanese artistic and cultural history. Artists not only experimented with themes already popularly familiar, but also, revealing extensive research and/or intimate familiarity with historical material culture, unveiled new works making once again visible themes or subjects that had perhaps been forgotten. Some painters, when they depicted Heian court ladies, displayed their knowledge and understanding of the correct combinations of colors of layers of the [[junihitoe|court robes]]. Imamura Shikô expanded upon the classic "Eight Views of [[Omi province|Ômi]]" motif by actually travelling to [[Lake Biwa]] and sketching scenes from life, something no ''ukiyo-e'' or ink landscape artist would have done; [[Masuda Gyokujo|Masuda Gyokujô]] painted ''bijinga'' depictions of [[Kasamori Osen]], the teashop girl made famous by [[Suzuki Harunobu]] in the late 1760s.

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While many artists continued to depict fully traditional (read: pre-Meiji) scenes, the 1920s saw a significant increase in the production of works depicting contemporary, modern life, and of portraits painted from life. [[Domoto Insho|Dômoto Inshô's]] "Hill" (1924) and [[Ikeda Yoson|Ikeda Yôson's]] "Snow in Osaka" (1928) are particularly well-known examples of this.

===Kyoto Nihonga===

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All in all, Kyoto saw far less cultural & social disruption in the 1850s-1870s than did Tokyo. As a result, the line between ''Nihonga'' and what came before is more blurred as it applies to Kyoto painters, many of whom are included among ''ukiyo-e'' artists (e.g. [[Kawanabe Kyosai|Kawanabe Kyôsai]]) or literati painters (e.g. [[Tomioka Tessai]]) in accounts of Edo period art, and also sometimes described as ''Nihonga'' artists. Similarly, literati painting in and around Kyoto is considered in some accounts to have continued straight into the 20th century; an exhibition entitled "Literati Modern" organized by the Honolulu Academy of the Arts included a great many artists who are commonly labeled as ''Nihonga'' artists.<ref>Berry, Paul and Michiyo Morioka (eds.) ''Literati Modern: Bunjinga from Late Edo to Twentieth-Century Japan''. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2008.</ref>

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Surprisingly, despite the historical separations between schools of traditional arts (i.e. the inability to study under multiple masters from different schools at once), Kyoto also saw far less factionalism in ''Nihonga'' than Tokyo. In fact, Tokyo artists often sought collaborations and support from Kyoto artists rather than seeking to collaborate with their rivals in other Tokyo-based groups. (''Yôga'' in Kyoto, on the other hand, was quite factionalized.)

A leading figure in the emergence of ''Nihonga'' in Kyoto was [[Takeuchi Seiho|Takeuchi Seihô]], who studied under Maruyama-Shijô painter [[Kono Bairei|Kôno Bairei]] and who is perhaps best known for his "Moon Over Venice" (1904), which is done, of course, entirely in traditional materials and format (ink on paper hanging scroll), but in rather Western styles, the work resembling to a great extent depictions of the same site by the English painter J.M.W. Turner.

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While many ''Nihonga'' artists in both Kyoto and Tokyo painted ''bijinga'' which depicted women in traditional clothing and settings, happy, demure, or more or less emotionless, many, such as [[Kajiwara Hisako]] and [[Kakiuchi Seiyo|Kakiuchi Seiyô]] were particularly innovative in depicting women in Western clothes and modern scenes, and showing emotions such as exhaustion, worry, and pensiveness. Many other ''Nihonga'' artists similarly portrayed aspects of modern life in their paintings as well; though the movement is defined by its use of traditional media and techniques and/or traditional themes and subjects, it is not strictly limited to the latter.

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While the Bunten (later, Teiten), Inten, and other major juried exhibitions were centered on Tokyo, the ''[[Shinko bijutsuhin ten]]'' ("Exhibition of New and Old Art"), first organized by the Kyoto Art Association (''[[Kyoto Bijutsu Kyokai|Kyoto Bijutsu Kyôkai]]'') in 1888, played a major role in Kyoto. By displaying historical treasures alongside newer works in traditional modes, the exhibitions sought to highlight and celebrate continuation while at the same time promoting development and progress. Works of calligraphy were included and treated more or less as a true continuation of the traditional art form, but new works of painting were not labeled by the names of any of the traditional schools (e.g. Kanô, Shijô, Tosa), signifying the shift that had already taken place in the Kyoto art world.

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==Wartime Nihonga (1930s-1945)==

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The extent to which one artist or another supported the militarism of the 1930s-early 40s remains hotly debated, as can be said equally for writers and countless other members of society. Beginning in the late 1930s, art exhibitions were limited almost exclusively to those organized by the government and showing patriotic works. Many prominent ''Nihonga'' artists continued to produce works during this time, shifting to patriotic themes such as depictions of [[Mt. Fuji]], yet, for many of them it is argued that to one extent or another they were opposed to the war and the militaristic direction the country had taken, but produced these sorts of works in order to make a living, and to avoid attracting attention as detractors. It is of course natural that artists would, after the war, claim they never supported it to begin with, for fear of being ostracized or seen in a bad light in the reversed political climate of the post-war; and it is of course natural for scholars, art critics, and the like to want to believe that their favorite pre-war artists could not be implicated in the ultranationalism and militarism of the wartime period.

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Thus, the debate continues, and without letters or other documentary evidence, we may never be able to know the extent to which this artist or that artist supported the government's propaganda machine enthusiastically and willingly. However, without passing judgment upon them for it, it is known that Uemura Shôen contributed monetarily to the war effort, and that Yokoyama Taikan headed the Japan Art Patriotic Society, and was employed directly by the government to produce paintings with nationalistic themes, including especially images of Mt. Fuji.

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Many artists also at this time produced images of scenes in China, Manchuria, and elsewhere, which can be analysed and interpreted as contributing to (or emerging from) a colonialistic and imperialistic discourse.

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==Post-War Nihonga (1945 to present)==

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In the years immediately after the end of World War II, artists sought to put the ultra-nationalism and propagandistic implications of the previous decade or so behind them, and to return to what ''Nihonga'' had been in the pre-war. Kawabata Ryûshi made a number of trips within Japan, including retracing the famous journey recounted in [[Matsuo Basho|Matsuo Bashô's]] collection of [[haiku]] "''[[Oku no Hosomichi|Ôku no Hosomichi]]''", and painting scenes of historical or cultural importance, such as the Yômeimon of [[Nikko Toshogu|Nikkô Tôshôgû]] and [[Ama-no-Hashidate]], recalling pre-war works such as Kobayashi Kokei's 1916 painting of the Byôdôin, entitled "Amida-dô", mentioned above.

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The government-organized Teiten exhibitions, which had their start as the Bunten and which were suspended due to the threat of air raids, were restarted and reorganized as the Nitten, or "Japan Exhibition," and shows such as the Inten continued as well.

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But while the general art-buying / exhibition-going populace was still fairly conservative in its tastes compared to Western audiences who had long ago fallen in love with Cubism, Fauvism, Surrealism, and the like, there began to emerge a feeling of a disconnect among younger artists, who wished to create works more connected to their own experiences and to the Japan they knew. Many felt that the pre-war modes to which many older artists were now returning were too closely tied to the same ideological trends which led to militarism in the first place, were too disconnected from the realities of contemporary life, and were simply too conservative and not forward-looking enough.

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The 1960s thus saw a profound shift in ''Nihonga'', as abstraction began to have a much more powerful impact upon the more prominent ''Nihonga'' artists. Though many local artists and hobbyists continued to produce ink paintings as they always had, many of those more actively engaged in the national and international art world, such as Dômoto Inshô, now began to produce abstract works largely indistinguishable from those created by their Western counterparts (and Japanese counterparts working in Western media) except in media.

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Though many in Japan continue to produce works in traditional media, and/or on traditional themes, calling themselves ''Nihonga'' artists, and being shown in shows which bill them and their work as such, very few if any are prominent in the national or international art world. While art associations continue to rent out spaces in Kyoto and elsewhere to show their works, curated exhibitions of ''Nihonga'' at major art museums in Japan and overseas focus primarily on pre-war artworks.

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==Neo-Nihonga==

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The 1990s to 2000s has seen the rise of what might be termed "neo-Nihonga," as many artists have turned once again to seeking to depict distinctively Japanese themes and subjects in their work, emphasizing or exploring Japanese identity and celebrating Japanese artistic traditions. Though these artists, including Yamaguchi Akira, Tenmyouya Hisashi, and Yamamoto Tarô, tend to work more in oils, digital editing, and other non-traditional media, their works heavily incorporate traditional styles, and references to specific famous historical works, combining these with references to contemporary commercial culture by way of social commentary, or simply fun juxtapositions and explorations of contemporary Japanese identity.

==References==

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