"The Birth of Nishiki-e," the current exhibition at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, claims to be an attempt to explore Chinese influence on ukiyo-e, Japanese print art.
The patchy collection of Chinese exhibits on display, however, prove more effective in highlighting the beauty of the museum's own extensive collection of Japanese prints than in demonstrating any new theories.
Nishiki-e, deriving from the Japanese word for brocade, means ukiyo-e done in a colorful or gaudy style, as opposed to the characteristic Japanese aesthetics of wabi and sabi that stress the muted, subtle and time-honored aspects of beauty.