Paintings of a flat, undulatory sandy beach or sand spit with windswept pines, a traditional theme of *yamato-e やまと絵. Documentary evidence suggests that seashore scenes were depicted occasionally in Heian period paintings of famous views *meisho-e 名所絵 including, for example, the beaches of Ise 伊勢 (Mie Prefecture) or Settsu 摂津 (Hyōgo Prefecture). It seems likely that there were few distinguishing differences in the coastal scenery depicted among these Heian paintings of famous views because none were painted from nature. No full-size paintings of the subject survive from before the 15th century. The motif frequently appears, however, on the screens depicted within handscroll paintings *emaki 絵巻, such as The Kasuga Gongen Miracles, Kasuga Gongen kenki-e 春日権現験記絵 (1309; Imperial Collection) and The Biography of Priest Hōnen *Hōnen Shōninden-e 法然上人伝絵 (mid-14th century; Chion'in 知恩院, Kyoto), see *gachūga 画中画. In these depictions the stylized waves of a wide expanse of sea lap against a sandy, flat shore with pines. The frequent occurrence of this theme in handscrolls indicates that pines on a beach had become a typical screen motif by the 14th century. The earliest extant example is a pair of folding screens with images of pines, ocean, and boats (late 15th century; Private Collection). Another pair of screens in the Tokyo National Museum (mid-16th century) shows people working along a beach, an elaboration on the theme. In late 16th century or early 17th century screens attributed to Kaihō Yūshō 海北友松 (1533-1615; Imperial Collection) and Sōtatsu 宗達 (?-1643?; Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.) the theme is treated more decoratively. The motif has appeared as a pictorial design on decorated paper and on lacquerware since the 14th century.