The key to Takashi Murakami's success was that his art came packaged with a theory, and for that theory he relied heavily on a 1970 book titled "The Lineage of Eccentricity," by art historian Nobuo Tsuji.
Tsuji was the first to point out that some of Japan's most famous historical painters — including Sansetsu Kano (of the Kano School), Ito Jakuchu and ukiyo-e artist Kuniyoshi Utagawa — shared an "eccentric" streak, a penchant for the playful, the fantastic and the decorative. He also noted that their work had a "strange correspondence" with contemporary manga.
While Tsuji's manga reference was largely ignored by the art establishment, Murakami quickly realized its importance. Here was an opportunity to argue that manga (whose aesthetic had since spread to anime and video games) was the sole custodian of Japan's rich artistic heritage.