For more than a century, from the Meiji Restoration onward, art history in Japan has followed the trajectory of Japan\u27s efforts to "escape from Asia" and to join the global world as an advanced nation, with research in the field strongly oriented toward Western culture, and tending to undervalue Asian culture including that of China. However, today, the study of Japanese art history now appears to have reached a major turning point. In this regard, major revisions of the Japanese art history based on the values articulated by Okakura Tenshin are being carried out. Conversely, the conception of Asian art history, grounded in Okakura\u27s perception of Asian history, is likely to reemerge in new guises. At least as far as early modern painting is concerned, it seems to be the time for the birth of an "East Asian art history," i.e., art historical research that deals with the arts in Japan, China, and Korea as a single field. If in the near future such an East Asian art history is to be established, it must arise out of the scholarly traditions and the ethos of Asia
