Consoom European paintings vs Gook scribbles.
(media.scored.co)
Japan was technologically about a few hundred years behind Europe until the late 19th and early 20th century when they rapidly caught up as result of lots of interaction with Europe. This difference is a drop in the bucket compared to how behind Africa was and still is. If you're gonna look at kabuki art from the early 19th century, a fair comparison would be European art from the middle ages, which was equally poorly refined.