The art student having completed his course is now qualified to attach himself to some of the great artists, into whose household he will be admitted and whose _deshi_ or art disciple he becomes from that time on. The relation between such master (SENSEI) and his pupil _(deshi)_ is the most kindly imaginable. Indeed, _deshi_ is a very beautiful word, meaning a younger brother, and was first applied to the Buddhist disciples of Shakka. The master treats him as one of his family and the pupil reveres the master as his divinity. Greater mutual regard and affection exist nowhere and many pupils remain more or less attached to the master’s household until his death. To the most faithful and skilful of these the master bestows or bequeaths his name or a part of it, or his nom de plume (GO); and thus it is that the celebrated schools (RYUGI or HA or FU) of Japanese painting have been formed and perpetuated, beginning with Kanaoka, Tosa, Kano, and Okyo, and brought down to posterity through the devoted, and I might say sacred efforts of their pupils, to preserve the methods and traditions of those great men. Pupils of the earlier painters took their masters’ family names, which accounts for so many Tosas and Kanos.
Great painters have always been held in high esteem in Japan, not only by their pupils, but also by the whole nation. Chikudo, the distinguished tiger painter, Bairei, one of the most renowned of the SHIJO HA or Maruyama school, Hashimoto Gaho, a pupil of Kano Massano and a leading exponent of the Kano style (Kano HA), and Katei, a Nangwa artist, all only recently deceased, were glorified in their lifetime. Strange to say, no one ever saw Gaho with brush in hand. He never would paint before his pupils or in any one’s presence. His instructions were oral. On the other hand, Kubota Beisen was always at his best when painting before crowds of admirers.
Prior to the Meiji period the great painters attached to the household of a Daimyo were called _O Eshi._ Painters who sold their paintings were styled _E kaki._ Now all painters are called GWA KA. Engravers, sculptors, print makers and the like were and still are denominated SHOKUNIN, meaning artisans. The comprehensive term “fine arts” (BIJUTSU) is of quite recent creation in Japan.