In the Buddhist painting of the Takuma group around the end of the 12th century a touch of Suiboku-ga is already seen, but full-scale Suiboku-ga appeared around the end of the 13th century, which was almost four centuries later from the beginning of Suiboku-ga in China.
すでに12世紀末頃の詫磨派の仏画に水墨画風の筆法が見られるが、本格的な水墨画作品が現れるのは13世紀末頃で、中国での水墨画発祥からは4世紀近くを経ていた。