The format of the emakimono, long scrolls of limited height, requires the solving of all kinds of composition problems: it is first necessary to make the transitions between the different scenes that accompany the story, to choose a point of view that reflects the narration, and to create a rhythm that best expresses the feelings and emotions of the moment.

Thus, the oldest known Japanese narrative painted scroll (or emakimono) dates from the 7th century to the Nara period: the Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect [fr], which traces the life of the Gautama Buddha, founder of the Buddhist religion, until his Illumination.

[12] This perception arises from the aesthetics and the codified and refined art of living that developed at the Heian court, as well as a certain restraint and melancholy born from the feeling of the impermanence of things (a state of mind referred to as mono no aware in Japanese).

[18] Nevertheless, it was especially in secular art that the nascent yamato-e was felt most strongly;[19] its origins went back to the sliding partitions and screens of the Heian Imperial Palace, covered with paintings on paper or silk, the themes of which were chosen from waka court poetry, annual rites, seasons or the famous lives and landscapes of the archipelago (meisho-e [fr]).

[23] The painting technique lent itself fully to the artistic tastes of the court in the 11th century, inclined to an emotional, melancholic and refined representation of relations within the palace, and formed a pictorial vector very suited to the narrative.

[32] The Genji Monogatari Emaki already presents the composition techniques specific to the art of emakimono: an oblique point of view, the movement of the eyes guided by long diagonals from the top right to the bottom left, and even the removal of the roofs to represent the interior of buildings (fukinuki yatai).

[34][29] The Shigisan Engi Emaki (middle of the 12th century), with dynamic and free lines, light colors and a decidedly popular and humorous tone, perfectly illustrate this movement, not hesitating to depict the life of the Japanese people in its most insignificant details.

Initially, the evolution marked previously by the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba (very late Heian era) was spreading very widely due to the importance given both to the freedom of brush strokes and the lightness of the tones (otoko-e), as well as bright colors rendered by thick pigments for certain elements of the scenes (onna-e).

[49] For example, the Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki recounts the life and death of Sugawara no Michizane, Minister in the 9th century and tragic figure in Japanese history, revered in the manner of a god (kami).

[58][59] A similar change was felt in religion as the esoteric Buddhist sects of the Heian era (Tendai and Shingon) gave way to Pure Land Buddhism (Jōdo), which primarily addressed the people by preaching simple practices of devotion to the Amida Buddha.

Emakimono were initially strongly influenced by China, as were the Japanese arts of the time; the Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect [fr] incorporates many of the naive, simple styles of the Tang dynasty, although dissonances can be discerned, especially in relation to colours.

A form of exploitation of the story could also motivate the sponsor: for example, Heiji Monogatari Emaki were produced for the Minamoto clan (winner of the Genpei War), and the Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba was created to extol the deeds of a samurai in search of recognition from the shōgun.

The particular format of the emakimono, long strips of paintings without fixed limits, requires solving a number of compositional problems in order to maintain the ease and clarity of the narrative, and which have given rise to a coherent art form over several centuries.

[94] Onna-e fully transcribed the lyrical and refined aesthetic of the court, which was characterized by a certain restraint, introspection and the expression of feelings, bringing together above all works inspired by "romantic" literature such as the Genji Monogatari Emaki.

In emakimono of the 13th century, in which the onna-e style was brought up-to-date, the same technique was used but in a sometimes less complete manner, the colours more directly expressing feelings and the artists using a more decorative aesthetic, such as with the very important use of gold dust in the Murasaki Shikibu Nikki Emaki.

The Heiji Monogatari Emaki thus shows in great detail the weapons, armour and uniforms of the soldiers, and the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba individually portrays the more than two hundred panicked figures who appear on the section depicting the fire at the door.

However, influences were still noticeable in certain works of the Kamakura period, in particular the art, so famous today, of the Song dynasty wash paintings, which was fully demonstrated in the grandiose and deep landscapes sketched in ink, by Ienaga.

[104] This last work presents many landscapes typical of Japan according to a perspective and a rigorous realism, with a great economy of colors; various Song pictorial techniques are used to suggest depth, such as birds' flights disappearing on the horizon or the background gradually fading.

[115] Unlike the previous arrangement, the point of view located outside the buildings, still high up, because the primary purpose of fukinuki yatai is to represent two separate narrative spaces – for example two adjoining rooms, or else inside and outside.

In Court style paintings (onna-e), the artist could suggest calm and melancholy via successions of fixed and contemplative shots, as, for example, in the Genji Monogatari Emaki, in which the scenes seem to be out of time, punctuating moments of extreme sensibilities.

[121] Another narrative technique characteristic of emakimono is called iji-dō-zu: it consists of representing the same character several times in a single scene, in order to suggest a sequence of actions (fights, discussions, trips) with great space savings.

Iji-dō-zu can equally suggest either a long moment in one scene, such as the nun in the Shigisan Engi Emaki who remains in retreat in Tōdai-ji for several hours, or a series of brief but intense actions, such as the fights in the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba and the Ippen Shōnin Eden.

In the context of emakimono, calligraphic texts can have several purposes: to introduce the story, to describe the painted scenes, to convey religious teachings or to be presented in the form of poems (waka poetry remains the most representative of ancient Japan).

During the subsequent Kamakura period, the forty-eight scrolls of the Hōnen Shōnin Eden [fr] formed an unpublished catalogue of the culture and the society of the time, while recounting, in a proselytising way, the establishment of the first Pure Land school in Japan.

Amongst the most interesting information in an emakimono may be details of the construction of ancient temples, of religious practices[142] and finally of the unfolding of battles and major historical events, such as the Mongol invasions, the Genpei War or even the Ōtenmon political conspiracy.

In this scene, all of the classic pictorial elements of the emakimono of the onna-e genre are visible: the diagonals that guide the eye, the fukinuki yatai, the hikime kagibana, and the colours affixed evenly over the entire surface, with the tsukuri-e technique.

[148] The scene shown here, in which Ippen and his disciples arrive at Kyoto by the bridge over the Kamo River, illustrates the unique emakimono style, which draws its inspiration from both the classic yamato-e realism of Kamakura art and the wash painting of the Song dynasty.

The result, so admired by specialists, appears very close to deep and spiritual Chinese landscapes with rough ink strokes, while retaining a Japanese iconography through the freedom taken with perspective (the characters in particular are disproportionate) and the elements of daily life.

[122] The original scrolls of the Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki, reporting the facts about the life and death of Sugawara no Michizane, scholarly minister to the Emperor during his lifetime, and deified according to legend as a kami of studies and letters, demonstrate a sensitivity in mixing Buddhism and, above all, Shinto.

The composition of the painting testifies to a very Japanese sensitivity; Michizane is disproportionately depicted to underline his grandeur and determination in the face of dishonour, while the vividly colored and almost contourless (mokkotsu) landscape is imbued with Shinto animism.