菊 | Kiku | Chrysanthemum | Pattern #15

We all know its that time of the year, Happy Samhainn! Chrysanthemum appear as a motif in many formats, stretched, repeat and realistic in Kimono, with the plant derived from strains created in Japan known as the Wagiku.[4] Claimed to represent longevity from drinking dewdrops that fell from the plant according to legend, the plant was first cultivated in Chinese gardens around 1500 BCE (3500 years ago).[2] Today they come in pink, purple, red, yellow, bronze, orange or white and represent the colour of autumn in Japan.[3] These patterns are the Kiku-bishi (square Kiku), Kiku-no-maru (floral circles), Kiku-zukushi (spider Kiku floral arrangements) and Kiku Sui (Kiku in water) motif first used circa 1330.[3] All Chrysanthemum originate from the Daisy genus.

Kiku Houmongi (c1998, PD) Andrew Bolton, Mr Koda

The history begins with the Nara period when the plant was imported from China around 600 CE. Around the time of the Heian period, it began to appear as a heavily important symbol among the aristocrats. The Heian court would hold Sechie parties where it was customary to drink Kiku-Sake (Chrysanthemum infused wine) for example.[3] The first emperor of the Minamoto Shogunates' rule, Emperor Gotoba adopted the flower to bolster his claim to the throne which otherwise belonged to the previous child emperor, Antoku, in 1183. This happened again in 1333 when in an attempt to differentiate the North and South imperial courts, Go-Daigo adopted a 17 petal version in opposition to that of Kougun.[1] During the Edo period, Kimono began to incorporate Kiku onto textiles.[3] 

In the Edo period, it began became popular along with cherry blossom, to cultivate Kiku to admire them in groups. The fruits of this labour are known as the Kotengiku (Classic type) crop of which are the Atsumono (Broad blooms), Kudamono (Spider Kiku), and Ichimonji varieties (Overlapping flat Blooms) which the contemporary Imperial crest is based on. The Bloom reaches a peak of 9-18cm diameters when in full blossom.[4] This is the time when Kiku were first depicted heavily on Samurai and likely Chonin textiles in reflecting the Kotengiku category. At the end of the Edo period and beginning of the Meiji, these categories were standardised. 

Kiku and Shibori Fragment (c1700, PD) LACMA

There is a long history of Chrysanthemum representing sex workers, just as there is in the West with the Rose. Another historical aspect of the Chrysanthemum is its adoption by the Males-on-Males. It was an inside joke by the Genroku period (1688-1704) that the flower was said to resemble the quivering intersection of the rear which bloomed a deep pink, and thus was a symbol for Homosexuality. By the early 18th century this was reflected in the Shunga of Miyagawa Choshun.[6]

'Yesterdays Abyss is Today's Rapids' (c1683, PD) Hishikawa Moronobu

Courtesan in Full Kiku Kimono (1704, PD) British Museum

Courtesan in Kiku Florals (1716, PD) British Museum

Courtesan in Kudamono Obi (c.1844, PD) Toshidama, British Museum

After 1870, these types of Kiku became part of public works such as parks which popularised the Edo Giku (Firework Kiku), Higo Giku (Limited Bloom) and Choji-Giku (Round Top Flat Base Kiku) with the public.[5] Thus they became popular once again in late Meiji, representing the might of the Co Prosperity Centre until the 1930s. 

Ms Ruth Nomura (c1930, CC1.0) Flickr, osu Archive

For the community activist and Japanese-American above, the Chrysanthemum certainly represented a spirit of homeliness and cultural touchpoint for her relationship with other Japanese diaspora people in the US when she assisted in their evacuation to avoid Roosevelts 'internment' camps. After this point, I am uncertain when they make a return, perhaps the 1965 area, but would most likely only be viably popular after the 1980s in the age of excess and revival of the 90s.

Bibliography 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Seal_of_Japan

[2] https://www.mitchellparkdomes.com/articles/mums-basics#:~:text=%22The%20chrysanthemum%20was%20first%20cultivated,have%20the%20power%20of%20life.

[3] https://int.kateigaho.com/articles/tradition/patterns-30/

[4] https://www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-japan/b08104/

[5] https://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/exhibitions/plant/project/old/181030/index.html

[6] https://www.historyisgaypodcast.com/notes/2019/10/14/episode-25-chrysanthemums-and-goldenbums

Socials:

https://linktr.ee/Kaguyaschest

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KaguyasChest?ref=seller-platform-mcnav or https://www.instagram.com/kaguyaschest/ or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5APstTPbC9IExwar3ViTZw, or https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LuckyMangaka/hrh-kit-of-the-suke/

鳥居 清信 | Torii Kiyonobu I | 1664-1729 | Bijin #11

Torii Kiyonobu (active 1698 - 1729) was a founder of the Torii painter school and Ukiyo-e printmaker, often in large formats such as theatre signboards. As a child, Kiyonobu grew up in Osaka, leaving in 1688 to work in Edo.[1] As an artists, he was heavily influenced by the influential Ukiyo-e artist Hishikawa Moronobu (active 1672-1694) and leading provincial E-maki illustrator Yoshida Hanbei (active 1664-1692). Torii's father Kiyomoto was an established Osaka Kabuki actor and with Kiyomoto, Kiyonobu began the Torii school of painting, otherwise known as a precursor to Ukiyo-e.[1][2] 

A period of Dramatic Change

Kabuki has a very special link to Ukiyo-e, as it was the popular theatrical entertainment for the masses during the 17th and 18th century in one form or another. Originally, Kabuki was a dance-drama style of popular entertainment created by the shrine maiden Izumo no Okuni (出雲阿国 | 1578-1613) around the time that Ieyasu came to power. From 1603-1629, women played many roles, but after this were routinely banned for their sauciness. Instead the Bakufu decided to have all actor troupes, creating a new headache for themselves instead: Wakashu: Beautiful Youths. Often male, these young Kabuki actors inspired many models of the Bijin-ga we know today, and certainly would have inspired the worldly pleasures which the Ukiyo-e Heimin described as Bijin-ga.[3] Asobi, Toransujendā and Suijin alike flocked to see them in all their naped (when the nape is naked) glory.

I use naped because this truly was a unique occurrence where all the people performing were getting it all out on display for the public. Kabuki in this way was where you went to see the latest Beauties, wearing the latest trends, and being provocative in a time of rapid upheaval of society as the country flocked into the new Edo capital of the Tokugawa, today known as Tokyo. Like the youthquake after WWII in Britain, the century long wars of the Sengoku Jidai had made people wary of conservative living and ideals and had begun to become more lax in their ending of Samsara, instead craving a more sexual, fashionable and youthful world of worldly pleasures. Napes and wrists were everywhere, and their audience members comprised of this mobile new class of the early Chonin.[4]

So Kanei women and the later Wakashu certainly were the proto-Bijin model. By the Jokyo era, Kabuki was probably the most popular Heimin entertainment, the Anime of its day really. Torii was born into the world of Kabuki, as the son of a known Kabuki actor. In 1688 Kiyonobu moved with his father to Edo and by the 1690s, he had begun his artistic career.[1] The pair both designed signboards which often used large calligraphic style writing, which required massive brushes to create the strokes wide enough to support the styles wide brushstrokes which seems to have become a staple in the lineart of Kiyonobu. Otherwise the man is rather boring to say he lived and worked during the Genroku era.

This dramatic artform employed Kiyonobu to make its billboards and promotional pamphlets depicting actors and troupes, thus feeding the Torii school into the masses as an art style. Many of which were recieved favourably as one of Bijin-ga actors which Kiyonobu eventually also branched out into as we can see below. His style over the years as solid Beni dyes became more available on the market also began to feature more solid reds, yellows and greens with typically conventional flat perspective of Ukiyo-e.[5]

Beauty in a Black Kimono (1710-1720, PD) Torii Kiyonobu I

Wakashu Dancer (c.1661-1694, PD) Hishikawa Moronobu

Shikomi-E (1661-1673) Anonymous

Kambun Beauty Silhouette (c1661-1699, PD) Anonymous

Dancer No.1 (c.1630-1670, PD) Suntory Museum of Art

Copy of the Hikone Screen (c1624-1639) Anonymous

Outdoor Amusement (c.1615, PD) Hasegawa Touhaku, Suntory Museum

O-Kuni performing Kabuki Byobu (c.1603-1613) Hasegawa, Kyoto National Museum

The Sidetracked Silhouette

I would like to sort of go down the line here of how we came to the S-shape silhouette first as well, as it intersects rather nicely with Kiyonobu's background in Kabuki and dance in Edo Japan. As we can see, Okuni clearly here is performing her licentious dancing during the early 17th century. This by the time of Outdoor Amusement depicts a conservative image of dancing, performed in Genna which would have been performed with the aid of a fan, which movements for such often required joints like the neck to be extended to show off the fan to the audience (sorry for the grain, blame copyright law I suppose). I hypothesise that it seems that at some point between 1604 and 1624, the S-shape silhouette began to become a frequent favourite of Kabuki actors which is where the silhoutte originates, something I previously was unaware of at the time I researched my first Bijin post.

This hypothesis is evident in The Hikone screen figure which shows us the definitively S-style silhouette coveted by the Kambun Master, which is popularly held to have been a silhouette performed by the Yuujo, but appears slyly on other wealthy peoples Byobu. Whether this was the work of the Machi-Eshi town painters or not is a mystery, but is plausible. It would certainly clear explain why an otherwise expensive painting of a courtesan exists, as these screens often were seen as far too luxurious to be made simply for worldly desires, and thus relegated to the Flower and Bird or depictions of Yamato-E and Buddhist retellings. Thus, a leading Chonin asking for a proto-Ukiyo Byobu from a Machi-Eshu or two rather unheeding-of-scripture noblepeople of the 1630s may be responsible. 

In the 1630s, the Japanese beauty standard was already a mixed bag, drawing from the Kano school impressions of foreigners (including Chinese, Portuguese, English etc) of the 1620s which depicted foreigners to sate Japanese curiosity about the wider world. Other Tosa school Yamato-E figures found in Fuzokuga genre paintings were used to depict the otherworldly Buddhist icons venerated as Japanese, and were depicted as never looking at the viewer to remind you they belonged to the world of the Pure Land plane. Only foreigners, Heimin and other plebians until the 1630s that is, would dare to glance back directly at their viewers.

These however were changing times, with the rise of the Chonin after the Tokugawa rose to power. And between 1620-1655, 'merchants like Kawamura Zuiken (1614-1700) who began as a cart-peddlar, and whose quick thinking after the 1657 great fire of Edo in buying local timber made him rich overnight' becoming the art patrons, replacing the old guards who only commissioned things like 'Amidha goes on a picnic', with 'Geishas go on a picnic'.[7] Suddenly, things had become rather less otherworldly, rather more, this-wordly as Japanese art began to be made for greater numbers of people than just the wealthy who could previously afford to have it all made and stored. The art inspiration thus began to turn from Buddhism and filial piety, into the base pleasures which inspired early Ukiyo-E (worldy pleasure pictures).

The next depiction of 'Dancers' is one of Fukuokas Important Cultural Properties and showcases Japanese dancing, very likely commissioned by a 'respectable' nudgenudgewinkwink Chonin. This portrait comes from a Kanei-Kambun 6 screen byobu which depicted 'graceful women' doing Japanese Hiogi dance. More than likely derived from Kabuki, this style of dance entertainment with fans was popular among Geiko who also operated around the Pleasure districts. As Japan became more Sakoku and less non-Sakoku, it may have been a push toward 'all things Japanese' (ie Hiogi fans) as a way for the upper classes to solidify, consolidate and qualify their positions in Japanese society, particularly after the events of the Shimabara Rebellion. Kuge thus preferred Wamono, rejecting the Western spirited branch of the Kano school which helped formed interest in wordly things in the first place in Momoyama era art.[6]

As Chonin of the 1640s/50s still wished to fit in so to speak, they may have ordered this silhouette as a way to say 'I like naped people', whilst also screaming to the old money, 'Im new money'. An easy way way in to this prestige vacuum created by the Sankin Kotai was to hire artists like Kano Yukinobu, which also saw a return to the wordly beauties of Kabuki, with a bit of Kano (ie dirty worldly bodies to the old money) sprinkled in. This resulted in the end, in what came to be known as the Kambun Beauty, who were mostly modelled after courtesans which their Komin painter clientele created. The pendulum had truly swung by the 1660s to give rise to the Chonin's fleshy aesthetical S-shape silhouette, recognisable in the many works of early Ukiyo-E artists due it being a trademark of the Kambun Master himself and his school, who are known to have frequented the wordly world of Kabuki and the pleasure districts. This is seen in our white Kosode clad Wakashu above.

The next image which will hopefully be familiar then, is the Shikomi-E or preparation picture, sneakily creeping in the S-Shape silhouette as a form of high art, in turn drawing from the Kabuki culture of high art the Kano school represented. This merging of figures with worldly pleasures and more 'Wamono' styles such as Yamato-E themes and aesthetics created the Bijin-ga genre by the 1670s with the silhouette derived from Kabuki a staple of the late Kambun Beauty. 

The late Kambun Beauty in turn was the model for Hishikawa Moronobu as seen above, who by now in using the silhouette was carrying on a Japanese art tradition and which as we see is finally taken on by Kiyonobu, who was in turn inspired by the winding posture, graces and charms of Japanese popular aesthetics and beauty standards. These were shaped heavily by the anti-foreigner climate of the Sakoku period, create by the Bakufu who in 1685 banned all texts on translations related to Christianity in fear it may spread Christianity among the masses, disrupting their hold on power it should be pointed out, which was only lifted in 1720, thus allowing for Rangaku (Dutch studies | 蘭学 ) to commence once more. Thus Wamono was a keyword in the creation of the standards of the day in promoting Japanese anything, particularly images of who was beautiful and who was not as these images became more widely circulated in Japan.

The Kabuki Impact

Thus when we talk about the impact Kabuki had on Bijin-ga, we can see quite how much it impacted popular culture and art. Kiyonobus art style consciously emulated the poses in Kabuki.[2] These often revealed the nape, wrists and occassionally ankles of their human figures in a then licentious display of skin. Kiyonobu also abandons Matabei's and Moronobu's attempts at Qiyun, instead aiming for a more grounded flat-perspective. It is telling that without his bold lines how much movement and humanity is really lost in his Bijin-ga compared to Moronobus original in this way.

Intriguingly in comparing the two, Kiyonobu also reveals how commercial his Bijin-ga are, in the hiding of certain fleshy parts and the motifs his Kosode carry. Moronobus motif are costly, timely procedures of handcrafted Shibori drums, expensive Beni and the spatial arrangement of Ma denoting a high minded Komin clientele and audience. Kiyonobu on the other hand evokes a more middle class nouveau riche ideal, where Beni is randomly everywhere and peonies, a generic popular sort of auspicious floral arrangement. 

Arguably Kiyonobu's Bijin here is attempting to relate itself to a tradition of beautiful historical art when it hides the nape more subtly than Moronobu, and the fleshy foot itself is not displayed but instead covered in Tabi socks in a kind of moral debate about revealing the flesh. Thus when we see Kiyonobus 'Bijin-ga', it is not the Komin variant of beautiful courtesans, but the commercial world of Beauties which are permissable to plaster above the theatrical troupes door where all the public will see. The Kabuki Bijin is an appeal to the masses of the standard Japanese beauty rather than the particularly individualistic or original style Moronobu had in comparison. The Kabuki Bijin is thus the beginning of the commerical and widespread appeal of Bijin-ga to the public it would seem.

The Commercial Bijin

We can see how Kabuki played its role decisively in the creation of the Bijin-ga genre when we consider the influence it had on the Torii school and Kiyonobu particularly. What in Moronobu's day has to be labelled as a 'dancer', Kiyonobu simply labels by 1700 as a 'Beauty'. This apparent deft nature with the brush and business minded conservatism clearly was a winning strategy as it allowed the Torii school to continue as the defining Ukiyo-E or really Kabuki related artistic style of the 18th century. This particularly included the Ando's or Kaigetsudo school.[2] Thus contextually, from Kabuki as a licentious artform and the merging of Kano school patronage by the Chonin and Komin castes, we see the emergence of Kiyonobu who uses these models to 'harken back' to an ideal of Japanese beauty inspired by a century of Kabuki, which Kiyonobu directly used to make his Bijin's posture, clothing and aesthetic whilst retaining an air of commercial business acumen to his Bijinga prints, due to the Sakoku-shaped policies and regulations in which time he operated under in balancing new middle class expectations and Wamono expectations of acceptability, in the more Yoshida Hanbei style of picture creation than Moronobu and his artistical bent.

Bibliography

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii_Kiyonobu_[2I

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii_school

[3] See A Gay Old Time in Bijin #1

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki

[5] For Tan-E and Beni-E see Fabrics #10

[6] See The Development of the Human Figure in Japanese Art to that of the Bijin-ga in Bijin #1

[7] Search Stabilisation; also see Essay #8, Bijin #3, #6 & #8

Footnote: Yes I like ranting about the S-shape silhouette. Why? Becuase it is mostly original research so I am quite proud to have it out from context. Good day Xem.

Bijin Series Timeline

11th century BCE

- The Ruqun becomes a formal garment in China (1000 BCE) [Coming Soon]

8th century BCE

- Chinese clothing becomes highly hierarchical (771 BCE) [Coming Soon]

0000 Current Era

7th century

Asuka Bijin (from 600) [Coming Soon]

8th century

- Introduction of Chinese Tang Dynasty clothing (710)

- Sumizuri-e (710)

- Classical Chinese Art ; Zhou Fang (active 766-805) ; Qiyun Bijin

15th century 

- Fuzokuga Painting schools; Kano (1450-1868) and Tosa (1330-1690) 

- Machi- Eshi painters; 1336-1650? [Coming Soon] 

16 century 

- Nanbanjin Art (1550-1630)

- Byobu Screens (1580-1670)

 - End of Sengoku Jidai brings Stabilisation policy (1590-1615)  

17th century  

- Land to Currency based Economy Shift (1601-1655)

- Early Kabuki Culture (1603-1673) ; Yakusha-e or Actor Prints

- Sumptuary legislation in reaction to the wealth of the merchant classes (1604-1685) 

- Regulation of export and imports of foreign trade in silk and cotton (1615-1685)  

Iwasa Matabei (active 1617-1650) ; Yamato-e Bijin  

The Hikone Screen (c.1624-1644) [Coming Soon]

- Sankin-Kotai (1635-1642) creates mass Urbanisation  

- Popular culture and print media production moves from Kyoto to Edo (1635-1650); Kiyohara Yukinobu (1650-1682) ; Manji Classical Beauty

- Shikomi-e (1650-1670) and Kakemono-e which promote Androgynous Beauties;

 Iwasa Katsushige (active 1650-1673) ; Kojin Bijin

- Mass Urbanisation instigates the rise of Chonin Cottage Industry Printing (1660-1690) ; rise of the Kabunakama Guilds and decline of the Samurai

- Kanazoshi Books (1660-1700); Koshokubon Genre (1659?-1661)

- Shunga (1660-1722); Abuna-e

Kanbun Master/School (active during 1661-1673) ; Maiko Bijin 

- Hinagata Bon (1666 - 1850)

Yoshida Hanbei (active 1664-1689) ; Toned-Down Bijin

- Asobi/Suijin Dress Manuals (1660-1700)

- Ukiyo-e Art (1670-1900)

Hishikawa Moronobu (active 1672-1694) ; Wakashu Bijin

- The transit point from Kosode to modern Kimono (1680); Furisode, Wider Obi 

- The Genroku Osaka Bijin (1680 - 1700) ; Yuezen Hiinakata

Sugimura Jihei (active 1681-1703) ; Technicolour Bijin 

Hishikawa Morofusa (active 1684-1704) [Coming Soon]

Miyazaki Yuzen (active 1688-1736) ; Genroku Komin and Wamono Bijin 

Torii Kiyonobu (active 1688 - 1729) : The Commercial Bijin

Furuyama Moromasa (active 1695-1748)

18th century

Nishikawa Sukenobu (active 1700-1750) [Coming Soon]

Kaigetsudo Ando (active 1700-1736) [Coming Soon]

Okumura Masanobu (active 1701-1764)

Kaigetsudo Doshin (active 1704-1716) [Coming Soon]

Baioken Eishun (active 1710-1755) [Coming Soon]

Kaigetsudo Anchi (active 1714-1716) [Coming Soon]

    1717 Kyoho Reforms

Miyagawa Choshun (active 1718-1753) [Coming Soon]

Miyagawa Issho (active 1718-1780) [Coming Soon]

Nishimura Shigenaga (active 1719-1756) [Coming Soon]

Matsuno Chikanobu (active 1720-1729) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kiyonobu II (active 1725-1760) [Coming Soon]

Kawamata Tsuneyuki (active 1736-1744) [Coming Soon]

Miyagawa Shunsui (active from 1740-1769) [Coming Soon]

Ishikawa Toyonobu (active 1745-1785) [Coming Soon]

Tsukioka Settei (active 1753-1787) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kiyonaga (active 1756-1787) [Coming Soon]

Shunsho Katsukawa (active 1760-1793) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Toyoharu (active 1763-1814) [Coming Soon]

Suzuki Harunobu (active 1764-1770) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kiyonaga (active 1765-1815) [Coming Soon]

Kitao Shigemasa (active 1765-1820) [Coming Soon]

Maruyama Okyo (active 1766-1795) [Coming Soon]

Kitagawa Utamaro (active 1770-1806) [Coming Soon]

Kubo Shunman (active 1774-1820) [Coming Soon]

Tsutaya Juzaburo (active 1774-1797) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kunimasa (active from 1780-1810) [Coming Soon]

Tanehiko Takitei (active 1783-1842) [Coming Soon]

Katsukawa Shuncho (active 1783-1795) [Coming Soon]

Choubunsai Eishi (active 1784-1829) [Coming Soon]

Eishosai Choki (active 1786-1808) [Coming Soon]

Rekisentei Eiri (active 1789-1801) [Coming Soon] [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ukiyo-e_paintings#/media/File:Rekisentei_Eiri_-_'800),_Beauty_in_a_White_Kimono',_c._1800.jpg]

Chokosai Eisho (active 1792-1799) [Coming Soon]

Kunimaru Utagawa (active 1794-1829) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Toyokuni II (active 1794 - 1835) [Coming Soon]

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai (active 1799-1823) [Coming Soon]

19th century

Teisai Hokuba (active 1800-1844) [Coming Soon]

Totoya Hokkei (active 1800-1850) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kunisada Toyokuni III (active 1800-1865) [Coming Soon]

Urakusai Nagahide (active from 1804) [Coming Soon]

Kitagawa Tsukimaro (active 1804 - 1836)

Kikukawa Eizan (active 1806-1867) [Coming Soon]

Keisai Eisen (active 1808-1848) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (active 1810-1861) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Hiroshige (active 1811-1858) [Coming Soon]

Yanagawa Shigenobu (active 1818-1832) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kunisada II (active 1844-1880) [Coming Soon]

Toyohara Kunichika (active 1847-1900) [Coming Soon]

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (active 1850-1892) [Coming Soon]

Toyohara Chikanobu (active 1875-1912) [Coming Soon]

Kiyokata Kaburaki (active 1891-1972) [Coming Soon]

Goyo Hashiguchi (active 1899-1921) [Coming Soon]

20th century

Yumeji Takehisa (active 1905-1934) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kotondo (active 1915-1976) [Coming Soon]

Yamakawa Shūhō (active 1927-1944) [Coming Soon]

Social Links

One stop Link shop: https://linktr.ee/Kaguyaschest

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KaguyasChest?ref=seller-platform-mcnav or https://www.instagram.com/kaguyaschest/ or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5APstTPbC9IExwar3ViTZw https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LuckyMangaka/hrh-kit-of-the-suke/ 

杉村 治平 | Sugimura Jihei | 1681 - 1703 | Bijin #5

Sugimura Jihei Masataka (active 1681-1703) was a noted printmaker in the Genroku period. His style is said to be in part influenced by the archetypal woodblock printer Moronobu (1618-1694). Unlike many artists of his time, Sugimura often signed his pieces using his surname rather than his artist title and he has the credit of having the oldest signed extant Kakemono-e (Horizontal painting scroll). He would often sign his work in unobtrusive places, like the sleeve of a Kosode.[5] Sugimura was a successful designer and publisher is known to have published at least 70 books with his work inside, publishing usually in the Shunga genre, frequently using Mitate-e (見立) such as those found in his Tale of Genji. Sugimura is best known for having introduced and popularised subtle erotic colour into Sumizuri-e books by 1685.[1]

Sugimuras first surviving work is the Ukiyo raku-asobi (浮世らくおそび | Easy pleasures of the floating world book), a woodblock print Shunga book made in 1681.[5] Sugimura worked in Edo from 1689, and as such as was influenced by the Edo Bijin ideals, which were markedly different from the Osaka (flashy) and Kyoto (Iki) Bijin at this time. The Edo Genroku Bijin as such was a more expensive derivation of the Osaka Bijin, but was less refined than the ideal Kyoto Bijin.[1][2] Sugimura printed his works with large blown up images, as well as the more usual smaller sizes seen in the 1650-1670's in Japanese print books. The majority of Sugimura's large singular prints showed detailed and coloured figures who often took up a large proportion of the space on the page.[5] Many of Sugimuras prints were also often printed separately and decorated in colour on their own as well, unlike Moronobu's quickly produced monochrome and artisanal Ukiyo-e prints.[1]

Lovers (c.1685) Sugimura Jihei

Scenes of Lovemaking (c.1685) Sugimura Jihei

Young Couple and Female Observer at a Cherry Blossom Viewing Party (c1685) Sugimura 

Dalliance (c.1685) Sugimura Jihei

From 1670-1680 print books had begun to use two tone colours if at all, this changed in the Genroku period and later on from 1685-1690 when Osaka culture began to flourish in GKTC and E-makikimono techniques introduced great varities of design techniques and colours as the work of painters and calligraphers (such as Miyazaki Yūzen and Yuezen Hiinakata) began to appear on Kosode and thus in the fashionable woodblock prints of the time.[3] Whilst other printers and designers had used colour in this time, Sugimuras light, airy and decorative hand painted colour applications were said to have added personal flair and to his characters erotic appeal.[5] When the 1690's rolled around and with the rise of the Osaka Bijin therefore, this is the paradigm shift and lense we must use to understand Sugimura's contribution to Bijin-ga.

Sugimura characteristically applies in a lighter style and palette in the hand of a painter with softer, tonal colours placed using watercolours atop his Sumizuri prints. Sugimura colouring is therefore reflective of the trends of Genroku print technology limits and styles, but in his colour application, rejects and reforms the Monochrome Moronobu for a hybrid Hanbei and Yuzen approach by combining painting and mis en scene techniques to give a blush and glow to his Shunga Bijin. It was this delicate use and particular placement of colour which made Sugimura popular in GKTC and amongst Chonin collectors, and influenced later designers colour choices.[1] Sugimuras linework meanwhile, whilst nothing special, builds on the work of Hanbei in working with spatial arrangement and composition to build certain environments and scene atmospheres in his prints.

The spatial arrangement of Sugimura's figures therefore is highly individual and gives off an air of confident Ukiyo-e, of high self-esteem and contentment in their role and place in society which was highly sought after by the Chonin  who chased that very entrepreneurial attitude in their own lifestyles and lives. A number of the late 1680s extant Kakemono-e bearing a Sugimura signature survive, and this shows the ornate Kosode which Sugimura thought fashionable. Indeed his Kakemon reflected the new 'extreme' Furisode which had only come into vogue at the time, which reflected these new Kosode and how GKTC operated around and within sumptuary laws in using understated and overstated production.[5]

Bijinga Kakemono (c.1680) Sugimura Jihei style

Sugimuras Kakemon, like his Sumizuri, contained Mitate (literary allusions) to classical Heian texts such as the Ise Monogatari and Genji Monogatari. Sugimura also often used decorative embellishments such as floral corner diapers in his work, enlarged figures and elaborate patterns, all signs of wealth and status for the time taken to produce these fanciful designs for their self-satisfied customers, I say self-satisfied as we are talking about here about people buying soft core porn or Abuna-e.[5] However money talks, and it was certainly not in the hands of the Samurai at this time. This does follow with Sugimura's Kosode designs, which are often lavish, but follow the already established popular motif, patterns and designs of the time, simply substituting his own evocative colour schemes in lieu of any other bombastic designing.

The Technicolour Bijin 1680 - 1700

The Sugimura Bijin is therefore a product of its time as GKTC; presented in come-hither colours, which softly approached the conservative author; giving a sense of traditional familiarity; and to the Chonin class, a loosening of the shackles of the sumptuary laws and an exciting new proponent of their acceptance and pursuance which strode the line between acceptability and extravagance by 1690 in toned down 17th century Kosode.[4] Sugimuras Bijin instead tells little white lies by using colour and form as stylistic elements congruent with the Moronobu style in showing without telling. Sugimura used the 'S-style' silhouette of the Kambun era for example, but applied subtle changes such as colour scheme and more ornate Mitate Kosode in his images to give a veneer of packaged Iki which was in fact marketed to the Chonin and not the Samurai classes. The Sugimura Bijin therefore is Technicolour, the new starlet who has replaced the silent film actors with a thin combination of Zoku (俗 | Vulgar) and Ga (雅 | Refined) from a man who often portrayed self-assured drunks & voyeurs and dressed them up as high and refined culture for the new modern townsperson.[5] Sugimura Bijin are bright for their times, and large in their scale, prominently celebrating the floating world Chonin lifestyle and GKTC they created for themselves, whilst operating under the propriety and sumptuary codes of the times.

Bibliography

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugimura_Jihei

[2] See Bijin #3, under Sumptuary Laws

[3] See Bijin #3, under The Genroku Osaka Bijin (1680 - 1700)

[4] See Bijin #4, under The Toned-down Bijin

[5] https://www.viewingjapaneseprints.net/texts/ukiyoe/sugimura_jihei.html

Social Links

One stop Link shop: https://linktr.ee/Kaguyaschest

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KaguyasChest?ref=seller-platform-mcnav or https://www.instagram.com/kaguyaschest/ or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5APstTPbC9IExwar3ViTZw https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LuckyMangaka/hrh-kit-of-the-suke/ 

朝顔 | Asagao | Morning Glory | Patterns #5

Asagao is a motif, often repeating pattern which can be placed sporadically across Kimono or is sometimes seen adorning a trellis or trailing pattern. Clusters in spots are also popular and most appear on Yukata, as the flower is most popular between July and September in Japan. 'Asagao' crudely translates as 'Morning Face' and is a metaphor for the beauty found in the morning glow of the Bijin, particularly young women.[1] It is thought wise by etiquette standards though that the pattern may be worn only in July and August when the bloom is budding.[2]

Asagao-zu Byōbu (1796-1858) Kiitsu Suzuki

The flower became imported into Japan during the Nara period (710-794AD) by Chinese diplomats to Japan and used for its medicinal properties to treat the runs.[1][2] This is evident by the celebrated nature of Asagao in Chapter 20 of the Genji, which celebrates Princess Asagao, the one Genji didn't get to bone because she tells him to do one, either way Genji turns up at her house and immediately has a harem around him, including Prince Shikibu *wink wink nudge nudge* and some MILFS. Asagao Hime though is like, nah go bone with Shikibu, not me. Genji then "sends her emo poetry" and goes to bed a grumpy umpus. Seeing Asagoas lovely dewlight face in the morning sun, reminded him of the beauty of mornings in her face. Genji then goes off and tries to shags a bunch of MILFs and Murasaki. Then it snows and they all make  snowmen with the servants becuase Snowmen wont make themselves of course.[3] Blah blah ephemerality bleep bleep beauty of transience bloop bloop.

Asagao gained popularity by the 17th century when they began to be grown in greater numbers, when the pattern during this time transferred well into ornamental design and became used on Uchiwa (団扇 | rounded square hand-fans), Tenugui (手拭い | printed hand towels), Combs and Kosode designs.[2] The pattern remains popular today in Yukata particularly being a trend worn often in deep or bright colours by Gyaru in the late 2000's that I remember from Japanese street photography.

Bibliography

[1] https://kokoro-jp.com/culture/2460/

[2] https://int.kateigaho.com/articles/tradition/patterns-19/

[3] https://mostbeautifulgenji.tumblr.com/post/80568794417/chapter-20-the-morning-glory 

Social Links

One stop Link shop: https://linktr.ee/Kaguyaschest

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KaguyasChest?ref=seller-platform-mcnav or https://www.instagram.com/kaguyaschest/ or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5APstTPbC9IExwar3ViTZw https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LuckyMangaka/hrh-kit-of-the-suke/ 

吉田 半兵衛 | Yoshida Hanbei | 1664-1692 | Bijin #4

Yoshida was the leading Ukiyo-e illustrator in Kyoto and Osaka (in 1664-1689). Yoshida worked primarily unlike his contemporaries in E-maki woodblock prints rather than both artistic and print woodblock designs. Yoshida was the first in the Kamigata area to sign his works, the first being the 1685 Yamato Nijuushi-kou (日本廾四孝| 24 Filial Piety paragons of the Yamato) prints.[4] As such, Yoshida was a prolific illustrator and he was published around 1000 illustrations throughout the Kanbun and Genroku eras in a variety of genres for adult and children audiences. He is particularly well regarded for is drawings for Ihara Saikaku's Ukiyo-zoshi (浮世草子|Notes of the floating world; or Merchant Pleasure Pursuit Genre) Amorous Life of X Series.[1][4]

Yoshida's style is said to be based on today unknown illustrators based around Kyoto and his teacher Shougorou whose work is no longer extant, the Tosa School (1300-1499) and Muromachi E-hon (室町絵本| Muromachi; 1336-1573; Buddhist Picture Books) and the influence of Moronobu.[4] Sumizuri-e in this time were still rather small and had limited space allocation, so instead his Shunga-e was were he produced his most individualistic work. Although his main medium held him back, his Sumizuri are still highly decorative pulling from Japanese and Buddhist decorative, calligraphic and spacial compositional traditions which provide their images main distinctive traits, features and ambience in the otherwise limited medium typical of early Sumizuri-e mannerisms and line qualities which whilst present in Yoshida's art, work around these limitations which come off as Yoshida's more loose distinct charm.[4] Yoshida's output dropped off after 1690 and his work was taken over by 2 of his now anonymous students until 1703.[2][3] 

Coiffure for a Wakashu (c.1680) Yoshida Hanbei

Dress Manuals

During the Genroku period (1683-1703),  becuase of　 ❶Stabilisation policy after Japan's civil war (1590-1615),　 ❷Sumptuary legislation in reaction to the wealth of the merchant classes (1604-1685) and 　❸Regulation of export and imports of foreign trade in silk and cotton (1615-1685), wealth began to accumulate to the Chonin classes.[1] These 3 factors lead to Genroku society becoming increasingly settled in new urban cities like Edo, interconnected and wealthier as a result. 

This new quasi-middle class of labourers, merchants and artisans eventually created GKTC and one of their greatest customers were the women whose furisode now began to lengthen, whose coiffure began to more structured and whose wealth was beginning to accumulate. GKTC had stringent instructions and expectations for female and male beauty standards, but must by no means must we view this with a 21st century Western lense of gender divides (or pink for girls, blue for boys) as androgynously beauties (whilst often favouring male beauties albeit) were the standard of the day to strive for. 

Suijin Dress Manuals

The well dressed man, often the head of the household and breadwinner at this time would have been an avid consumer of these manuals for himself and any Shaku (嫡 |legitimate wife), Yuujo, Kagema or plaything a Suijin (粋人| Worldly Male) may fancy. It is estimated around 50% of men could read at this time.[4] Another genre of Sumizuri-e which showcased male actors in fashionable garments and can be compared to a modern magazine featuring popular actors doing modelling for example.[4] The majority of books were designed with men in mind, so I shall gloss over them a bit and refer more to womens fashions as as I mentioned before, gender, art, clothing and design over overlapped.[8]

Five Amorous Women (1686) Yoshida Hanbei

Asobi Dress Manuals

With these expectations, GKTC and beauty standards began to become more visual and visible in the proliferation of picture books. In the case of women, it is estimated only around 20% of women at this could read. This did not stop young unmarried women (or Asobi, play girls) who worked as maids, chefs, childcarers, silk, ramie and hemp weavers, dancers, actors, Night soil compost merchants, and other jobs) from looking at and buying these picture books and dress guides.[5][6][7] This was informed also by the new GKTC expectations for women in their longer swinging sleeves (today furisode), more elaborate and ornate yet rigid hairstyles and wider Obi (belts).[1] 

Yoshida's depictions of GKTC also included the etiquette and fashionable styles for hair, kimono fashion and what to wear at home for women at the time. In 1687 he contributed to Genroku KTC by publishing his book of kimono designs, Asobi dress manuals illustrations for Okada Shôhakuken's 1687 Touryuu Onna you Kagami (當流女用鑑| Modern mirror of the world of women/女用訓蒙図彙| Ladies Pictorial Encyclopedia) Volume 4 clearly illustrates the new fashion which Saikaku deemed 'extreme' which had come about by this time as a result of the new wealth which was purposefully flaunted in GKTC.[1][2][4]

Womens Kosode Designs (1687) Yoshida Hanbei

A great number of these Kimono designs show literary allusion in the combination of morning glory and carriage motifs to the Yuugao (Morning Glory) chapter in the Genji (which refers to Princess Asagao who Genji didnt get to bone this time and something about Cougars and Snow ITS LATE IM TIRED).[4] 

Korean Chrysanthemum Pattern | Carp Waterfall Pattern 

(Joyo kinmo zui; 1687) Yoshida Hanbei

As we see here, Yoshida clearly works within the boundaries of acceptable art limitations for Sumizuri-e with the small and retreating facial features and gestures into the preordained popular S-shape, which came to prominence in the Kambun era. His design book clearly illustrates the Genroku composition style of busy composition. Breaking pre-established norms though go about as far as this and instead follow a shy breakaway from tradition, seen in the number of limited motifs (2 and 3) which were deemed acceptable under sumptuary laws regarding design at the time for Chonin.

Small sections of design instead speak for the wealth by using what appears to be shibori to showcase that whoever was having the kimono made for them had the money to have someone produce Kosode with shibori decoration and intricate large threadwork which even some samurai with their loss of rice revenue could no longer afford to have made. With the ever increasing sumptuary laws which Chonin had to follow, adapting to the sumptuary laws became a key component of GKTC, so whenever a ban on certain designs were introduced, Chonin would rebel and spend more money in other ways, and production (sewing, embroidery, dying etc) was where the money would instead end up.

Yoshida was already established when he began producing Asobi and Suijin Dress Manuals and Saikaku's 'Extreme' GKTC Sumizuri-e between 1682-1692. Whilst his work did not depict Bijin, he did depict what the Bijin would wear which is what makes his illustrations depicting Kimono so useful to us today for defining some of the fashionable kimono and appropriate deportment in GKTC. Modest Peacocking if you will. Yoshidas napes and wrists for instance, unlike saucy Moronobu, are not visible but hidden, which screamed 'I-am-a-middle-class-suburban-1687-housewife'. This whilst not seemingly revolutionary, was a shift in attitude of shunning the human form in the early 17th century to an acceptance of its depiction and acceptability in print for a general audience, which came from the world of Abuna-e and Shunga over to the domestic sphere in a tempered, moderate version.

The Toned-Down Bijin

In conclusion, whilst not classified as Bijinga, Yoshida clearly had a idea about the acceptability and transmission of beauty standards to the average reader. Combine this with his successful collaborations and proliferation in multiple genres, and Yoshida singlehandedly managed to redefine the visual ethos of acceptable dress by the Genroku period. It is clear that Suijin, Asobi, Yujo, Kagema and Samurai families also had begun to mix and adapt and adopt each others dress habits and how this pushed cottage industry production of expensive Kosode whether in the amount of dye used, costly gold threads and leaf application etc onto already vivid, ostentatious and elaborately layered Kosode. These expensive garish GKTC garments caused backlash and reversion by tastemakers to more traditional Buddhists notions of propriety in dress and modest dress etiquette (or being Iki) under the sumptuary laws to the new wealthy urban masses by designers like Yoshida who encouraged modest Ji-monnyou, motif and dress styles in their Sumizuri-e Kosode in reaction against the Chonin Bijin who was characteristically flashy, flamboyant and fabulously overdressed to pop to see the latest Kabuki.

Bibliography

[1] For more on Saikakus contribution to GKTC, see Bijin #3

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshida_Hanbei

[3] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG1412

[4] https://www.viewingjapaneseprints.net/texts/ukiyoe/yoshida_hanbei.html

[5] Fertility And Pleasure: Ritual And Sexual Values in Tokugawa Japan, William Lindsey, 2007, p.10

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil#Japan

[7] See Goodwin 2000 and Dalby 1983/1993 in Resource Page for more on the definition of Asobi

[8] Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600–1950, Gregory Pflugfelder, 2007, pp.55-73

Social Links

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KaguyasChest?ref=seller-platform-mcnav or https://www.instagram.com/kaguyaschest/ or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5APstTPbC9IExwar3ViTZw, or https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LuckyMangaka/hrh-kit-of-the-suke/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LuckyMangaka/timono/1680-1689/