Styles from the West: Chinese and Dutch Influences

Chinese art that made its way to Japan via sea routes included not only the refined style of Nanpin’s school but also Suzhou prints, which with European influence employed lines to emphasize perspective in space for a strong impression on the viewer. This method had an impact on the treatment of space by Japanese painters. The multiple single-point perspectives in prints make the viewer feel as if the objects of depiction are floating before the eyes, which is why the Japanese especially referred to them as “floating pictures (uki-e).” Often these “floating pictures” required a special “peep box” to make the viewer feel as if part of the scenery. Furthermore, this kind of viewing apparatus that opened a whole new world of vision also saw the combined appearance of “reflective mirrors” and “optique pictures (megane-e).” The 45-degree refraction of glass mirrors offered another form of viewing pleasure.

Various viewing apparatuses and paintings offered novel visual experiences for Edo people, and there was intense interest in humanistic and scientific knowledge under the influence of Western culture. The appearance of “Dutch learning” and “Dutch painting” not only represented the thirst for Western knowledge on the part of Edo scholars, it also reflected the influence of Western art on East Asia.