JAPANESE ART

the painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and other fine or decorative art forms produced in Japan. Japanese visual arts are characterized by their vibrancy, life, and colour. They have been strongly influenced by three elements: Chinese visual arts, indigenous themes and traditions (notably nature and literary works), and Buddhist iconography. Also characteristic is an emphasis on decorative effect and a tendency to combine fine and decorative art forms. The Chinese style of ink-monochrome painting and calligraphy played a significant role in the development of Japanese painting. Japanese artists assimilated this tradition, introducing the use of colour about the 6th century AD. A more Japanese form, called Yamato-e, emerged in the 12th and 13th centuries and is typified by long, narrative emaki (picture scrolls). The Japanese fascination with abstraction from nature is best seen in the screen and panel paintings of the 16th18th century. Also appearing about that time was the woodblock print, which evolved into the popular polychrome ukiyo-e form. The earliest examples of Japanese sculpture were small clay figures called haniwa. Buddhist subjects came to dominate following that religion's introduction, with the most notable examples being carved wooden statues. The Chinese post-and-lintel architectural style overshadowed more indigenous forms from the 8th century, although Japanese concepts of asymmetry often were incorporated. The Japanese are renowned for their decorative arts, especially pottery, cloisonn, and laquerwork forms. Pottery styles exhibit considerable continental influence, particularly from the Korean peninsula, although numerous indigenous modifications have produced such distinct forms as raku ware.