The rich Japanese fine arts tradition is preserved in many different forms of cultural expression, ranging from Buddhist sculpture to the unique architecture of Shinto shrines and Zen Buddhist temples, but it is perhaps best-known through the medium of traditional arts and crafts.

These traditional arts and crafts were seriously retarded following the Meiji restoration (1868), when ancient customs and traditions were systematically discarded in the feverish pursuit of westernisation. However, during the 1920s Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), founder of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, led a revival of Mingeihin or Japanese folk crafts, and since that time the government has done much to protect and develop this important heritage.

During this same period, western-style art or yoga was eagerly appropriated by the Japanese. Despite subsequent reactions favouring a return to the native tradition, assimilation of the movements of western modernism continued steadily until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, a trend encouraged by the introduction of western fine arts programmes in numerous Japanese universities.

Revived during the 1950s by modernist pioneers such as Takeo Yamaguchi, Yoshishige Saito and Toshinobu Onosato, contemporary art has since developed through numerous styles and media, establishing today's strong art market in Tokyo and other major centres of population.

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