Japan's culture has been shaped by dramatic infusions of foreign art forms and ideas followed by long periods of isolation and assimilation. The introduction of Buddhism to Japan from China via Korea in the sixth century was the most important cultural event in Japanese history. Buddhism gave an isolated island nation not only a new form of belief , but important tools for creating an advanced civilization as well, such as a written language, Chinese, and methods of governmentt. Foreign methods of building, casting bronze, and painting techniques revolutionized the arts.

Japanese art was shaped by patronage and power. During the Heian dynasty, art and literature reflected the elegant taste of the court in Kyoto. In the Kamakura era, power shifted from the nobility to the warrior class, and a new realism was born, which appealed to men devoted to warfare.

In the 14th century a new wave of Buddhism- this time the Zen sect- swept into Japan from China. Zen became the official religion, embraced by the ruling shoguns and the powerful warrior class, the samurai. Trading missions to China brought back paintings and objects of art, and a few monk-painters like Sesshu, who painted this brilliant landscape, traveled to China to study. A new aesthetic of extreme simplicity and restraint was introduced from Sung and Yuan China along with new art forms like the tea ceremony, haiku, flower arranging and ink painting.

In 1603, one hundred years of warfare ended when the Tokugawa Shogunate was established in Edo (present-day Tokyo) By 1640 foreigners had been driven from the country and Japan entered a period of complete isolation, which lasted nearly 200 years. A popular subject for artists became the Namban, a Japanese name for foreigners, which means "Southern Barbarians The grotesque and exotic appearance of Europeans and their fashions provided a humorous motif for many decorative objects including this Namban box.

The arts bloomed with great diversity. The Rimpa School of painting represented Japanese decorative style. Subjects drawn from nature, vivid color, and a lavish use of gold delighted the imperial court and the wealthy merchant class of Kyoto. The finest creations of the Kano School of painting were monumental landscapes decorating the sliding doors and folding screens used to enclose rooms. Powerful lines and strong horizontal compositions, expressed the Confucian spirit and were admired by the conservative shoguns who chose it as their official style. Members of the Nanga or Southern school were inspired by the paintings of Southern Sung China. Nanga painters were amateur painters--scholars, officials, soldiers and literati of all types-- who prided themselves that they did not make their living as painters. This painting by Hanko Okada Shuku, a Kyoto school literati painter, belongs to that amateur tradition.

In 1853, Commodore Perry and his warships forced Japan to open its doors to trade. Once again, Japan reinvented itself. Almost overnight Japan was transformed from a feudal society into a modern nation, and once again every aspect of Japanese life was altered.