In 1898, Okakura Kakuzo (Tenshin) chose “Expression” as an objective at the first Nihon Bijutsuin Exhibition in Tokyo. After the autumn of 1897, the “Expression” became a terminology to critique exhibitions, but not before spring 1897. What did “Expression” mean? Why did the critics of the time pay attention to it? How did a modern Japanese painting artist, Yokoyama Taikan, apply this concept in his art?

Yokoyama Taikan’s Chouhou was considered as the work that followed the concept of “Expression.” Taikan himself revealed that he explored the concept in his work. We understand from his explanation that “Expression” for Taikan meant the expressions of people’s emotion in paintings.

My research found the two sources to be the cause of such a new trend: one was Suematsu Kencho’s article, “Nihonga no Ichi Gimon (One doubt about Japanese-style Painting),” published on July 19, 1897 in the Yomiuri Newspaper, and the other was Lafcadio Hearn’s “Nihon Kaiga Ron (Japanese Painting Theory),” in Taiyo, vol.3, no.5, published on July 20, 1897. These articles caused the debate on “Expression.”

Taikan tried the technique of chiaroscuro for the first time in Chouhou to experiment the concept of “Expression,” because the debate was focused on the relationship between the expression and the techniques of chiaroscuro.