Yamato-e

Yamato-e (大和絵 ) is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang Dynasty paintings and developed in the late Heian period. It is considered the classical Japanese style. From the Muromachi period (15th century), the term Yamato-e has been used to distinguish work from contemporary Chinese style paintings (kara-e), which were inspired by Song and Yuan Dynasty Zen Buddhism paintings.

The Yamato-e often tell narrative themes with text along with them, show the beauty of nature, e.g. famous places (meisho-e 名所絵), and the four seasons (shiki-e 四季絵). The pictures are non-symbolic and have the objective of depicting the beauty in nature. The pictures are often on scrolls that can be hung on a wall (掛け物, kakemono) or handscrolls (emakimono) that could be read from right to left with the accompanied story or on a folding screen (byoubu, 屏風) or panel (shouji, 障子). Although they received their name from the Yamato period (大和), Yamato-e pictures rather stand for a style and are not restricted to a particular period. Although the most famous artists painted in sumi-e style in the Muromachi period, this was not characteristic of early pictures.

Yamato-e had a great influence on the Rimpa (琳派) and ukiyo-e (浮世絵) styles, as well as the Nihonga (日本画).

Yamato-e artists
Famous artists include:
 * Kose Kanaoka
 * Tosa Mitsuoki
 * Tosa Mitsunobu