Although Japan is an island nation, a long history of exchange and trade developed between Japan, Korea and China. Japan first strongly asserted a distinctive national identity and artistic style in the Heian period (794-1185). While court artists initially developed a new, colorful style of painting in the late Heian, it was Zen Buddhism-established in Japan in 1191-which most fully redefined the arts in Japan. As a result, simplicity of form and a reverence for nature became hallmarks of the arts in Japan, an aesthetic reflected in all forms from painting to garden design.