Kabuki is thought to have originated in the early Edo period, when the art's founder, Izumo no Okuni, formed a female dance troupe that performed dances and light sketches in Kyoto. The art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form after women were banned from performing in kabuki theatre in 1629.

Freestyle painting is also known as literati painting, or in Chinese 'Xie Yi' – literally meaning to write an idea; the Chinese painting technique of the artist scholar more interested in personal expression than accuracy, detail, or merely a beautiful painted surface.