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Chapter Nine of the Tales of Ise (10th century) contains a poem written by the courtier-poet Ariwara no Narihira upon his sighting of Mt. Fuji:

Fuji is a mountain/That knows no seasons./What time does it take this for/That it should be dappled/With fallen snow?

[trans. Helen Craig McCullough]

The Sumiyoshi school was an offspring of the Tosa school, and like its parent it specialized in the painting style called yamato-e. Traditionally associated with the imperial court and the illustration of courtly literature and narrative picture scrolls, yamato-e emphasized delicate brushwork, classical themes, and detailed patterns over opaque colors. The Tosa school masters served the court in Kyoto, and the Sumiyoshi painters served the Shōgun.