Discussion

Japanese artists have long produced ceramics, sculptures, calligraphy, architecture and other cultural treasures. There have been a wide variety of painting subjects, too. The majority of these have focused on three general areas. 

Kachō-ga (Pictures of birds and flowers)

Though the word literally means pictures of birds and flowers, kachō-ga subjects include any type of non-flowering plants, too, and a wide variety of animals, fish, and other creatures found in nature besides birds. The 6-fold kachō-ga byōbu below depicting birds and flowers of fall and winter is an example. It was painted by Kanō Motonobu (1476 – 1559). Motonobu wasn't the founder of the Kanō school of art, but he was its head for many years and built it into the highly influential organization it became for centuries.

Jinbutsu-ga  (Figure painting)

There are many types of paintings of people. Some are simple portraits like this one by an unknown artist of the Emperor Go-Daigo (1288 – 1339), the 96th emperor of Japan.

Here are some special jinbutsu-ga categories:

Bijin-ga (Pictures of beautiful people)

This 1802 ukiyo-e print, titled The courtesans Yoyotose and Yoyoginu of the Matsuba-ya, is by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806). Utamaro is sometimes called Japan's Toulouse-Lautrec because many of his ukiyo-e feature backroom scenes of courtesans when they were not entertaining customers.

Yakusha-e (Pictures of kabuki actors)

Torii Kiyomitsu (1735 – 1785) is the artist who designed this yakusha-e of the kabuki actors Sanogawa Ichimatsu and Sawamura Sôjûrô in costume. Sôjûrô is the onnagata, a male actor in a female role. Along with the great master, Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794 – 1795), yakusha-e, was a specialty of Kiyomitsu's.

Sumo Wrestling Paintings

There is no special Japanese word for these paintings, but ukiyo-e of sumo wrestlers (rikishi) were very popular. One of he best sumo artists was Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865). Regarded by his 19th century contemporaries as the greatest of the ukiyo-e masters, exceeding even Hokusai and Hiroshige, Kunisada is best known for his yakushi-e and bijin-ga prints, but as can be seen below, he did other subjects, too. 

Fῡkei-ga (Landscapes)

As with junbutsu-ga, there are different types of landscape paintings. Some have special names.

Meishō-e (Pictures of famous places)

Some of the most famous ukiyo-e paintings of Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858) were of famous places. One of his series of prints was even named Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces. The series began 1853 and finished in 1856. Number 17 in the series is Edo's Asakusa Fair. It was published in 1853.

People are often included in Hiroshige's landscapes as tenkei elements, minor features of interest. Here, their numbers make them not so minor parts of the landscape.

Sansui-ga (Mountain and water landscape painting)

Here is the Encyclopedia Britannica's definition of landscape painting: 

Landscape painting, the depiction of natural scenery in art. Landscape paintings may capture mountains, valleys, bodies of water, fields, forests, and coasts and may or may not include man-made structures as well as people. Although paintings from the earliest ancient and Classical periods included natural scenic elements, landscape as an independent genre did not emerge in the Western tradition until the Renaissance in the 16th century. In the Eastern tradition, the genre can be traced back to 4th-century-CE China.

There is such a wide range of possibilities for landscapes that it is not possible to comprehensively cover the subject in the time and space available here, so the focus will mostly be narrowed to Japanese mountain landscapes paintings inspired by Song Dynasty Chinese art. This is a photo of a real place in southern China, Tianzi Shan Mountain Peak, Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province that has inspired a lot of artists.

Tenshō Shūbun (died c. 1444–50)

Shūbun became the director of the court painting bureau established by Ashikaga shōguns in Kyōto. Chinese art was avidly collected by art patrons there, and they were available for Shūbun to study. His subsequent artwork led to his being called the founder of Chinese-style of suiboku-ga (water and ink painting) in Japan. The sharply vertical features in Shūbun's of 6-fold byōbu pair below shows the Chinese influence.

These paintings demonstrate that Japanese artists were somewhat familiar with 3D perspective, though they weren't as sophisticated as Western artists beginning with the renaissance. Japanese artists even had relevant vocabulary.

kinkei = foreground

chūkei = middle ground

enkei = background

Look over the paintings above and identify some of each of these elements. 

Though there is a foreground, middle ground, and background to the painting, its features are essentially flat. They don't have the rounded look of objects in western art.

Soga Shōhaku (1730 – 1781)

Centuries later, the influence of Chinese art in Japan is still clear. The brush styles of Shūbun, Sesshū, and their early successors had long since been passé, but Shōhaku brought about a revival. This painting on a hanging scroll is an example.

Kanō Tomonobu (1843 - 1912)

Tomonobu studied Western art and learned to paint under Kanō school masters. Much of his career was spent as an administrator and teacher. His artwork was predominantly in the post-Edo, early modern era. Regardless, when moved to do so, he could apply his painting skills to traditional forms of art as shown below.

Hasegawa Tōhaku (1539 – 1610)

Jumping back in time, Tōhaku greatly admired Sesshū and thought of himself as one of Sesshū's successors. He strove to imitate Sesshū's painting style, but as can be seen from his paintings below, his subject matter varied considerably. His Pine tree byōbus are strictly yamayo-e, Japanese style, not Chinese style, paintings. These are very different kinds of landscapes.

Haiku

Matsuo Bashō (1644 – 1694) wrote the haiku that will be part of this week's haiga shortly before his death.

A literal interpretation of this haiku has a mountain path appearing simultaneously with the aroma of plum blossoms and the rising of the sun. It seems to be about a traveler's appreciation of the beauty of a mountain landscape.