This paper addresses how and why Japanese paintings with features that were seen as flat and decorative, and Korin’s designs in particular, were accepted by British avant-garde artists. It is characteristic of Western Modernist paintings that they break away with narrative and imitation of nature and let viewers into the painting itself, and it is worth noting that visual design consists of colours and forms. Therefore, it seems to be only natural that decorative forms specific to Japanese art, such as flat colouring and asymmetric composition, should be welcomed into Western Modernist art. It is interesting to note that Vorticists such as Wyndham Lewis or C. R. W. Nevinson were fascinated not by Japonism (nihon shumi) or Japanese patterns, but by masterly lines combing architectural design and decorative lines seen in Korin’s screens. It can be assumed that Korin’s design was accepted by British Modernists who believed that drawing was the quintessence of design because of the masterly lines in his screens.