Takato Yamamoto (b.1960) experimented with the ukiyo-e style from 1991-1993 to allow him to define his own style “Heisei Esthetics” as it blends the influence of the ukiyo-e with Japanese pop art and Western gothic art. Yamamoto coined the term “Heisei Estheticism” to define a style of art encompassing themes of darkness, bondage, metamorphosis, love and death. The dark, brutal narratives within Yamamoto’s paintings never reveal acts of violence.