Namban es Namban en

Refers to the style of art connected with European missionaries and merchants in Japan during the 16th and 17th century, including Japanese artists painting in a Western style, European imported art, and traditonal Japanese art depicting Europeans. Taught by Jesuit priest Giovanni Niccolo in 1583, artists produced works in a traditional Western style, often religious in theme. Namban motifs include Western peoples, ships and rosaries and crosses, found on folding screens, flasks, and lacquer ware.