The opening up of Japan to commercial relations with the Western world in the nineteenth century had a significant impact on the visual arts, changing existing approaches. This influence is still strongly intertwined with those arts, however, the principles of it get routinely misinterpreted because of cultural barriers. Japanese concepts do not have readily available and precise translations in other languages. Aesthetics were created as a branch of western philosophy so a problem of categorization arises when talking about Japanese aesthetic principles. However, these principles are treated as a part of aesthetics. This kind of approach allows a more mindful handling of the received knowledge, and photography as a medium for that is an interesting choice because of contemporary technical and technological possibilities, and it allows for a conjunction of ancient thought and a relatively new kind of art. The wabi-sabi, mono no aware, shibui and miyabi principles are useful to know also because of a second wave of Japanese in the West. An increasing amount of contact with the Japanese culture due to globalization and the greater popularization of Japan carry with it a greater risk of misinterpretation.