上村松園と幽玄Yugen Resonance in Uemura Shoen's Paintings

Historically, countless cultural elements and ideas have been introduced to Japan from China, a country with deep historical ties to Japan. The theme of today’s article, “yugen (幽玄)”, is one such concept. The concept itself originates from China, specifically from classical Chinese literature and Taoist philosophy. However, once introduced to Japan, yugen developed into a uniquely Japanese aesthetic, deepening within the Japanese cultural context. In brief, yugen denotes a beauty of subtle profundity or lingering elegance, expressed not by directly depicting something but rather by suggesting or hinting at it. This concept transcends mere practicality, evolving into a central ideal within classical Japanese arts, most notably Nogaku (能楽, Noh theatre). One figure who masterfully expressed the aesthetics of yugen in Japanese painting was Uemura Shoen (上村松園, 1875–1949), an eminent Japanese-style painter active from the Meiji to Showa eras. Shoen is renowned as a representative female painter of the modern Kyoto art scene, dedicating her entire life to creating refined bijin-ga (美人画, portraits of beautiful women) using traditional techniques. Personally, I regard her as a pivotal artist who committed wholeheartedly to embodying the beauty of yugen in her paintings.

Historically, the establishment of yugen as the ultimate ideal of beauty began with Zeami (世阿弥, 1363–1443), Japan’s legendary and greatest Nogaku performer. Shoen herself had a deep interest in Noh theatre, stating during her lifetime,

「謡曲（能の詞章）をやっていますと、身も心も涼風に洗われたように洗浄になってゆく自分を感じるのであります」: “When I practice chanting Noh verses (Yokyoku, 謡曲), I feel my mind and body purified as if cleansed by a cool breeze.”

and

「謡曲に描かれている事象すべてはこれ絵の題材と言っていいくらいでしょう」: “Everything depicted in Noh verses can be considered material for painting.”

In other words, she saw every Noh story and scene as potential subjects for her art, becoming the first painter to actively incorporate these elements into her creative process. Thus, an understanding of Shoen’s aesthetics is incomplete without recognizing how deeply her artistic vision was influenced by the yugen beauty derived from Noh theatre. Indeed, many of her works draw inspiration directly from Noh themes. Representative examples include “Hono (焔),” “Jo no Mai (序の舞),” and “Soshi Arai Komachi (草紙洗小町),” each embodying a profound spirit of yugen, the quintessence of Japanese aesthetic consciousness, drawing viewers into the ambiguous boundary between life and death. Whenever I gaze upon Shoen’s works, I feel as if I’ve been transported to a world between life and death of the Heian era—a realm I’ve never experienced.

Furthermore, Shoen’s philosophy of incorporating yugen was inherited by her son, Uemura Shoko (上村松篁, 1902–2001), who also became a distinguished Japanese-style painter. He once remarked,

「能、謡曲が表現する幽玄の世界と、私の描きたいと思う世界は一致するところがある。『香り』や『格調』の世界である」: “The world of yugen expressed by Noh and Noh verses overlaps with the world I wish to depict—a world of ‘aroma’ and ‘elegance’.”

Clearly, both mother and son upheld the beauty of yugen found in Noh theatre as the ultimate artistic ideal in their creative endeavors. True to his words, the paintings of Shoen and Shoko profoundly embody a lost aesthetic of Japan that is impossible to replicate in contemporary times.

Because Shoen primarily painted portraits of beautiful women, her reputation often emphasizes that particular aspect. However, in reality, she was an artist who, guided by the principles of yugen, built her own unique artistic world by avoiding explicit portrayals and instead emphasizing profoundness and elegance. Shoen studied classical art forms such as Yamato-e (大和絵) and Ukiyo-e (浮世絵), drawing initial inspiration from the “Maruyama school (円山派),” founded by the renowned Kyoto artist Maruyama Okyo (円山応挙, 1733–1795), and the “Shijo school (四条派),” established by Goshun (呉春, 1752–1811). She preserved traditional Japanese painting techniques while creating sophisticated portraits of great elegance. Personally, I often view Uemura Shoen as the last truly traditional Japanese-style painter of an era when new styles were flowing in rapidly. Her style was not merely classical; it was characterized by meticulous line work and carefully calculated chromatic beauty, skillfully remixing classical aesthetics into a modern form often described in Japanese art history as “Neo-classical.” Shoen herself expressed that her ideal was “paintings like fragrant jewels, pure and entirely devoid of vulgarity,” and she confidently stated that she depicted women with “a graceful yet dignified elegance that is inviolable.” With this conviction, Shoen persistently pursued portrayals of female figures imbued with the refined elegance and mysteriousness of yugen.

One of Shoen’s most representative works, Hono (焔, Flames) (1918), is indispensable when discussing the embodiment of yugen. When I first encountered this painting, I vividly remember feeling as if I’d forgotten the present world and was standing at the threshold between life and death, silently astonished by Shoen’s powerful yet subtle embodiment of yugen. Since then, I have been captivated by Shoen’s magical talent. The subject matter itself expresses the intense jealousy of Rokujo no Miyasudokoro (六条御息所—for details on this name, please refer to yesterday’s article), a character from Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji (源氏物語). However, Shoen’s portrayal also closely parallels the scenes depicted in the Noh play Aoi no Ue (葵上), drawn from the same Heian literary source. In Japan, Rokujo no Miyasudokoro is famously known as a vengeful spirit (生霊), driven by jealousy, yet in Hono, Shoen refrains from directly portraying her intense emotions, instead sublimating them into an atmosphere of profound yugen. Critics have also pointed out that the standing posture in this painting possesses a solemnity reminiscent of Buddhist imagery, which evokes a timelessness that transcends any particular era or place—this precisely reflects the beauty of yugen. By breathing life into a classical literary figure and expressing her passions through symbolic motifs and restrained colors, Shoen successfully established the quintessentially Japanese aesthetic of “Yojo (余情, lingering resonance)” in her artwork. Even without explicit depiction, the profound emotion seeping through Hono demonstrates the embodiment of yugen perfectly.

Another of Shoen’s significant masterpieces is Jo no Mai (序の舞, Prelude to a Dance) (1936), known for its elegant and refined expression of yugen. This piece is similarly inspired by Noh theatre, depicting a young woman performing the “Jo no Mai” section of a Noh dance. At the time of its unveiling, it was praised for its remarkable perfection and dignity, prompting the government to purchase the work, and today it is often regarded as the culmination of Uemura Shoen’s artistic career. Even within the bright and vibrant palette dominated by vermilion and olive green, the painting exudes an intense, almost palpable tension from the woman’s eyes down to her fingertips. Depicted without a Noh mask, the graceful young woman quietly rehearses her dance, dressed in luxurious Furisode (振袖, formal long-sleeved kimono) and a Maru Obi (丸帯, formal kimono sash), her hair elegantly styled in the traditional “Bunkin Takashimada (文金高島田).” She emanates purity and elegance entirely free from vulgarity, precisely capturing Shoen’s ideal vision.

Much as Zeami advocated eliminating elaborate sets from Noh stages, emphasizing simplicity to evoke profound resonance, Shoen employed a similarly minimalist approach—removing background and unnecessary details to highlight the inherent beauty of this dancer’s movements. Although this viewpoint can often be misunderstood as “minimalism”, it fundamentally differs from the Western concept of minimalism. Personally, I sense there are distinct forms of minimalism—a Nordic minimalism and a uniquely Japanese variety—and concepts such as “Japandi” skillfully blend these two different ideas. Shoen’s meticulous portrayal of the dancer, whose graceful movements and carefully articulated gestures radiate elegance and tension, conveys an atmosphere uniquely her own. It seems as if the essence of yugen itself, derived from Noh theatre, is captured within this painting, deeply moving the viewer through the sublime beauty hidden in its silence. In other words, the elusive Japanese concept of yugen, difficult to grasp through mere explanation, genuinely resides within Shoen’s paintings and can truly be comprehended only by experiencing them firsthand.

The aesthetic of yugen that Uemura Shoen infused into her Japanese paintings had significant implications for the development of modern Japanese art. From the Meiji period onward, influenced by the country’s reopening, a massive influx of Western art occurred, and many Japanese artists left traditional Japanese painting behind as outdated and turned eagerly to Western painting styles. Within this rapidly changing era, Shoen persistently pursued works rooted deeply in traditional Japanese beauty, reviving classical elegance in a modern context. Through her paintings—not through mere words—she continuously showed that Japanese painting, and Japan’s own cultural history and philosophy, hold as much to learn from as Western art does. For this reason, personally, I do not entirely agree with the common view that positions her merely as a pioneer of a neo-classical movement or as someone who simply expanded the expressive scope of Japanese painting by merging tradition and modernity. By embodying the uniquely Japanese ideal of yugen in modern painting, Shoen elevated bijin-ga beyond the realm of genre or decorative paintings into the domain of profound artistic expression. Her works consistently exhibit dignity and depth, qualities that transcend time, capturing the hearts of viewers even today and continuing to captivate many Japanese.

The ethereal female figures depicted by Uemura Shoen express the very essence (Iki, 粋) of Japanese aesthetics. In an era when Western painting was being introduced at speed, her art provided a clear direction for modern Japanese painting, demonstrating how traditional thought could be inherited and developed rather than abandoned. Her paintings, filled with the lingering resonance of yugen, still quietly inspire admiration and reverence in contemporary audiences, shining timelessly within the history of Japanese art.