Joryū Gaka Kyōkai was meant to be a "merger" of women artists from all spectrums of the art world, rather than just another exhibition society.
In the same vein, rather than advocate a specific ideology, philosophy, or style, Migishi emphasized "pure art" that functioned autonomously from established societies and systems – whether artistic or political.
[2] Today, Joryū Gaka Kyōkai's primary vehicle for promoting women artists is its large, annual juried salon that display around 400 selected works primarily submitted by its members and affiliates.
Joryū Gaka Kyōkai was officially founded in February 1947 by eleven artists: Eiko Fujikawa, Yuki Katsura, Setsuko Migishi, Motoko Morita, Yoshie Nakada, Miyuki Nakatani, Yoneko Saeki, Fumiko Saiga, Hamae Sakurai, Etsu Sakurai, Yoko Tōyama.
[4] The founding members of Joryū Gaka Kyōkai were already accomplished artists, and had independently participated in other exhibition societies before World War II.
[5] Migishi had exhibited with the Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyōkai (Association of Independent Artists), but was unable to join as an official member because she was a woman.
[11] By the postwar period, however, dantai started to be seen as academic and old-fashioned, and artists increasingly participated in more casual collectives that, rather than focusing on formal exhibitions, instead created collaborative and unconventional artworks.
Migishi, one of the founding artists of Joryū Gaka Kyōkai, belonged to the modernist, anti-academic faction of the art world (known as 在野 zaiya).
[12] As a result, she was adamant that this particular exhibition society would function not as a traditional dantai, but as a so-called daidō danketsu (大同団結 "agglomeration," or "merger") of female artists from the entire spectrum of the Japanese art world.
Despite connections to other exhibition societies and associations, Joryū Gaka Kyōkai were meant to be independent and focus on "the presentation of pure art.
Joryū Gaka Kyōkai continues to organize annual exhibitions, run a research group, and publish newsletters.