Rinpa school

The term "Rinpa" is an abbreviation consisting of the last syllable from "Kōrin" with the word for school (派, ha) (with rendaku changing this to "pa"), coined in the Meiji period.

Hon'ami Kōetsu founded an artistic community of craftsmen supported by wealthy merchant patrons of the Nichiren Buddhist sect at Takagamine in northeastern Kyoto in 1615.

Both the affluent merchant town elite and the old Kyoto aristocratic families favored arts which followed classical traditions, and Kōetsu obliged by producing numerous works of ceramics, calligraphy and lacquerware.

One of his most famous works are the folding screens Wind and Thunder Gods (風神雷神図, Fūjin Raijin-zu) at Kennin-ji temple in Kyoto and "Matsushima" (松島) at the Freer Gallery.

Other Rinpa artists active in this period were Tatebayashi Kagei, Tawaraya Sori, Watanabe Shiko, Fukae Roshu and Nakamura Hochu.

Rinpa artists worked in various formats, notably screens, fans and hanging scrolls, woodblock printed books, lacquerware, ceramics, and kimono textiles.

The stereotypical standard painting in the Rinpa style involves simple natural subjects such as birds, plants and flowers, with the background filled in with gold leaf.