Utamaro - Fujin Sōgaku Jittai

Kitagawa Utamaro Collection

Fujin Sōgaku Jittai (婦人相学十躰)

"Ten physiognomies of women") and Fujo Ninsō Juppin (婦女人相十品, "Ten classes of women's physiognomy")

PUBLISHED BY: c. 1792–93

FORMAT: The prints are ōkubi bijin-ga "large-head" bust portraits of female beauties in ōban-size (about 25 by 36 centimetres, 10in ×14in). 

NOTES: Only five prints from one series and four from the other survive, and one print appears in both series, so that eight distinct prints are known. The two series may have been made up of the same prints, or they may have been the same series with a title change partway through publication.

Uwaki no Sō (浮気之相)

Fancy Free

A young woman—most likely in her 20s—is dressed carelessly in a yukata, with her head turned behind her, looking outside the picture. She is probably returning from a sentō bath. She wipes her hands with a cloth draped over her right shoulder.
In modern Japanese, uwaki usually means "sexual unfaithfulness"; less often it means "lively" or "frivolous", or indicates a showy disposition. In Utamaro's time the word referred to a flighty personality apt to follow fads and fashions.
The woman has a kanzashi hairpin and a comb placed casually in her hair. She has her mouth open slightly, as if she were about to speak, and has a seductive look in her eyes. The background is dusted with muscovite, a variety of mica, which produces a glittering effect. The vegetable pigments have faded from their original colours; the kimono was most likely a pale blue.

Omoshiroki Sō (面白キ相)

"The Interesting Type"

A woman looks in a mirror in her right hand. She examines her teeth, which have been blackened with ohaguro, which normally only married women applied. Women applying ohaguro are normally depicted with the mirror in the left hand and the ohaguro brush in the right.
Utamaro uses a limited number of colours in this print, which gives the impression of a dim interior scene.

Tabako no Kemuri o Fuku Onna 煙草の煙を吹く女 

 "Woman blowing tobacco smoke"

Utamaro depicts a young woman holding a kiseru tobacco pipe. She sits in a decadent posture with her kimono open, exposing her breasts, and her hair is coming untied. The pipe rests on her fourth and fifth fingers, with her thumb at the end on her index and middle finger holding it on top. She blows a puff of smoke rendered with karasuri embossing against the mica-dusted background.

Uchiwa o Sakasa ni Motsu Onna 団扇を逆さに持つ女

"Woman holding a hand-fan upside-down"

A young woman holds a round uchiwa hand fan upside-down with both hands, possible turning it in circles; she appears lost in thought.
A finely-patterned obi sash that wraps around her light, summer  haori, a kimono-like jacket. The grey haori is of silk gauze, and its sleeves have slid down the woman's arms, revealing their white skin at the centre of the composition. Five-leafed ivy mon crests adorn the kimono, as well as a three-leafed ivy crest on the fan, signifying this is Naniwa O-Kita, a famed teahouse girl who appeared in many prints by Utamaro and others.

Yubi-ori Kazoeru Onna 指折り数える女

"Woman counting with her fingers"

 A woman counts something on the fingers of her right hand. Her left hand is on her obi sash, and her posture and facial expression suggest she is thinking seriously about something.

In Japanese yubi-ori kazoeru (指折り数える, "count by bending fingers") refers to a style of finger counting by which a person begins with the hand open and counts by folding inward first the thumb ("one"), then from the index finger to the baby finger.

Sensu o Mochi Higasa o Sasu Onna 扇子を持ち日傘をさす女

"Woman holding a hand-fan and parasol"

A woman stands in a leisurely, relaxed posture carryin a parasol and hand fan and wearing an age-bōshi head-dress to keep dirt from the hair. This was a popular summer fashion with women during the Kansei era.

Fumi Yomu Onna 文読む女

"Woman reading a letter"

In , a woman reads what is almost certainly a love letter, per the expectations in ukiyo-e. Expectations would also predict the recipient to be a courtesan or young girl, but the woman's shaven eyebrows and teeth blackened with ohaguro show that she is married. She holds the letter close to her eyes and probably reads it secretly and in low light. The arch in her posture and her squeezing grip on the letter suggest a conflicted emotional state brought on by a likely tangled relationship.

Popen o Fuku Musume ポペンを吹く娘

"Young woman blowing a poppen glass"

A young woman plays with a popen —a glass toy that changes sounds depending on whether the breath is blown or sucked through it; the change makes an onomatopoeic po–pen sound. It was an exotic type of toy a sheltered girl from a respectable family could have innocent fun with; she is likely the daughter of a wealthy merchant family. To Japanese art historian Tadashi Kobayshi, "Utamaro has marvelously captured her just when she seems about to achieve a more mature, voluptuous beauty but has yet to lose the innocence and naïveté of childhood.
The young woman wears a furisode—a type of kimono worn by young unmarried women. It has a design of scattered cherry blossoms over a red-and-white checkered pattern.

Bijin-ga (美人画) - Ladies fixing their hair

This series of prints all depict women washing or fixing their hair and it constitutes a popular category. As with the clothed and under the covers post last month, these images also do not portray the overt sexuality as other shunga do however the sexual overtones are still clearly present.

 

Japan - History Overview and Timeline

Jomon Period (- 300 BC)

• The early Japanese were gatherers, hunters and fishers.
• Read more about the Jomon Period

Yayoi Period (300 BC - 250 AD)

• The introduction of rice agriculture begins the development of a social hierarchy and hundreds of small countries that started to unify into larger countries.
• Read more about the Yayoi Period

Kofun Period (250 - 538)

• Japan is for the first time more or less united. Large tombs (kofun) were built for the deceased leaders.
• Read more about the Kofun Period

Asuka Period (538 - 710)

• 538/552 Introduction of Buddhism.
• 604 Prince Shotoku's Constitution of seventeen articles is promulgated.
• 645 The Taika reform is introduced. The Fujiwara era starts.
• Read more about the Asuka Period

Nara Period (710 - 784)

• 710 Nara becomes the first permanent capital.
• 784 The capital moves to Nagaoka.
• Read more about the Nara Period

Heian Period (794 - 1185)

• 794 The capital moves to Heian (Kyoto).
• 1016 Fujiwara Michinaga becomes regent, marking the peak of Fujiwara power.
• 1159 The Taira clan under Taira Kiyomori takes over the power after the Heiji war.
• 1175 The Buddhist Jodo sect (Pure land sect) is introduced.
• 1180-85 In the Gempei War, the Minamoto clan puts an end to Taira supremacy.
• Read more about the Heian Period

Kamakura Period (1192 - 1333)

• 1191 The Zen sect is introduced.
• 1192 Minamoto Yoritomo is appointed shogun and establishes the Kamakura government in Kamakura.
• 1221 The Jokyu Disturbance ends a struggle between Kamakura and Kyoto, resulting in the supremacy of the Hojo regents in Kamakura.
• 1232 A legal code, the Joei Shikimoku, is promulgated.
• 1274 and 1281 The Mongols try to invade Japan twice, but fail mainly because of bad weather conditions.
• 1333 The Kamakura government falls.
• Read more about the Kamakura Period

Muromachi Period (1338 - 1573)

• 1334 Kemmu Restoration: the emperor restores power over Japan.
• 1336 Ashikaga Takauji captures Kyoto.
• 1337 The emperor flees and establishes the Southern court in Yoshino.
• 1338 Takauji establishes the Muromachi government and a second emperor in Kyoto (Northern court).
• 1392 Unification of the Southern and Northern courts.
• 1467-1477 Onin war.
• 1542 Portuguese introduce firearms and Christianity to Japan.
• 1568 Nobunaga enters Kyoto.
• 1573 The Muromachi government falls.
• Read more about the Muromachi Period

Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573 - 1603)

• 1575 The Takeda clan is defeated in the battle of Nagashino.
• 1582 Nobunaga is murdered and succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
• 1588 Hideyoshi confiscates the weapons of farmers and religious institutions in the "Sword Hunt".
• 1590 Japan is reunited after the fall of Odawara (Hojo).
• 1592-98 Unsuccessful invasion of Korea.
• 1598 Death of Hideyoshi.
• 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats his rivals in the battle of Sekigahara.
• Read more about the Azuchi-Momoyama Period

Edo Period (1603 - 1868)

• 1603 Ieyasu is appointed shogun and establishes the Tokugawa government in Edo (Tokyo).
• 1615 The Toyotomi clan is destroyed after Ieyasu captures Osaka Castle.
• 1639 Isolation of Japan from the rest of the world except for strictly regulated trade with China, Korea, the Netherlands, the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Ainu.
• 1688-1703 Genroku era: popular culture flourishes.
• 1792 The Russians unsuccessfully try to establish trade relations with Japan.
• 1854 Commodore Matthew Perry forces the Japanese government to open a limited number of ports for trade.
• Read more about the Edo Period

Meiji Period (1868 - 1912)

• 1868 Meiji Restoration.
• 1868 The capital moves to Tokyo.
• 1872 First railway line between Tokyo and Yokohama.
• 1889 The Meiji Constitution is promulgated.
• 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War.
• 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War.
• 1910 Annexation of Korea.
• 1912 Death of Emperor Meiji.
• Read more about the Meiji Period

Taisho Period (1912 - 1926)

• 1914-18 Japan joins allied forces in WW1.
• 1923 The Great Kanto Earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama.
• Read more about the Taisho Period

Showa Period (1926 - 1989)

• 1931 Manchurian Incident.
• 1937 Second Sino-Japanese War starts.
• 1941 Pacific War starts.
• 1945 Japan surrenders after atomic bombs are dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• 1946 The new constitution is promulgated.
• 1952 The Allied Occupation of Japan ends.
• 1956 Japan becomes member of the UN.
• 1972 Normalization of relations with China.
• 1973 Oil crisis.
• Read more about the Showa Period

Heisei Period (1989 - 2019)

• 1992 Burst of the Bubble Economy.
• 1995 The Great Hanshin Earthquake hits Kobe.
• 1995 Sarin Gas attack in the Tokyo subway by Aum sect.
• 2011 The Great East Japan Earthquake hits the Tohoku Region.
• Read more about the Heisei Period

Utamaro - His Five Women Film (1946)

  Kitagawa Utamaro Collection

His Five Women or Five Women Around Utamaro (歌麿をめぐる五人の女 Hepburn: Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna)

Utamaro and His Five Women or Five Women Around Utamaro (歌麿をめぐる五人の女 Hepburn: Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna) is a 1946 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is based on the novel of the same title by Kanji Kunieda, itself a fictionalized account of the life of printmaker Kitagawa Utamaro. It was Mizoguchi's first film made under the American occupation.

The story is set in Edo (now Tōkyō) in Japan.

The film starts with a parade of samurai and their concubines (oiran, distinguished by their high shoes) along an avenue of cherry trees. Koide, called Seinosuke by his woman Yukie (Kotaro Bando), an artist/samurai apprenticed to a Kanō master, leaves the parade and visits a print shop where he sees a woodcut print by Utamaro that boasts of ukiyo-e 's superiority to the official style. Enraged, he goes to a tea-house to find Tsutaya Jūzaburō, the owner of the print shop, to express his displeasure. Word is leaked to Utamaro to avoid the tea-shop, but instead he goes there directly to investigate. Koide then challenges him to a duel. Utamaro counter-challenges him with a different kind of duel––a painting contest. [1]

Utamaro is declared the winner by Koide, who then acknowledges Utamaro's superiority. Koide then follows Utamaro as a disciple.

We then hear that Edo's best tattoo artist lacks the confidence to draw on the back of a famously beautiful courtesan, Orui. Utamaro asks her permission to paint directly onto her back (for the tattoo artist to then tattoo over). She is proud to accept. Shozaburo falls in love with Orui and elopes with her to the countryside, leaving behind his fiancee, Okita.

Utamaro goes to a lake-side with his friends and spies Oman, the beautiful daughter of a commoner, amongst a whole group of bathing girls. He takes her to be his long-term model.

Upsetting the magistrates with some of his prints, he is sentenced to be handcuffed for 50 days.

Okita tracks them down and brings Shozaburo back to Edo, but later discovers he is still seeing Orui and stabs him in front of her, then kills Orui. Okita then goes to Utamaro's house to await her fate, knowing she will be executed for the crime, but explaining that she had to be true to her own feelings.

At the final scene, Utamaro's handcuffs are removed and he instantly returns to drawing. The film ends with a collection of his most famous prints falling one by one in front of the camera. 

Follow this version for english subtitles;
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TThwphS-3oQ

Full version below (not english)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utamaro_and_His_Five_Women

Masters of Japanese prints: Hokusai and Hiroshige landscapes

 22 September 2018—6 January 2019

This exhibition has now finished, but you can still view it online. (Well worth a look)

The exhibition will explore how Hokusai exploited a growing interest in Japanese landscape through his ground-breaking series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and how he experimented with newly available Prussian Blue dye to develop a striking new colour palette. The selection will include his iconic design The Great Wave off Kanagawa. 

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery has a collection of some 500 ‘floating world pictures’ (ukiyo-e) which celebrate the pleasures of life in Japan. Our collection ranks in the top five regional UK collections.
Through a series of three exhibitions, we are showcasing our collection of Japanese woodblock prints over the next year.

The first exhibition, Masters of Japanese prints: Hokusai and Hiroshige landscapes will explore the radical developments in landscape prints made by two of Japan’s best-loved artists.
From the 1830s to the 1850s, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) developed a dynamic new genre of landscape prints that became hugely popular with their customers in Japan and later with western artists and collectors.

Encouraged by Hokusai’s success, Hiroshige developed his own landscape series including The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road which portrayed views along the route between the cities of Kyoto and Edo (today’s Tokyo). Engaging scenes from this and other series will be included in the display.

The exhibit will highlight the ways in which both artists use innovative perspectives, changes in light and weather as well as human figures to involve viewers in the scenes.

Included in the display will be a set of prints showing the process of colour printing one of Hiroshige’s prints Shono – Sudden Rain from The Fifty-three stations of the Tokaido, newly commissioned from a traditional woodblock print workshop in Tokyo with funding from the Friends of Bristol Art Gallery.

Travellers Notebooks

Everyone loves having notes and keepsakes from their travels and these notebooks are fantastic.
Travellers have 3 stores in Tokyo and the shop in Nakameguro is their flagship store and they are called Travellers Factory.

Travellers company was formaly known as Midori Notebook.

This video has a tour of the 3 shops in Tokyo

Eight Views of Famous Teahouse Beauties (Meisho koshikake hakkei)

Kitagawa Utamaro Collection

Eight Views of Tea Stalls in Celebrated Places / Eight Views of Famous Teahouse Beauties / Eight Views of Tea-stalls in Famous Places

Size: Approx Oban tate-e: 14½ x 9 5/8in. (36.9 x 25.3cm.)

Circa: 1795/96

The Beauty Okita Looking into a Mirror

 A beauty sipping from a stemmed goblet (giyaman)
Signed in left corner: Utamaro hitsu and published by Ezakiya Kichibei

Bamboo Blind
Oseyo of the Hiranoya Tea House

"FUTOKORODE"
A Woman warming her hands Inside the Kimono

Woman holding a tea cup

Woman combing hair

Signed: Utamaro hitsu (center right)

Three Beauties

Art of Japan: The Many Worlds of Ukiyo-e Prints

Museum of Fine Arts - Boston

Escape to a tantalizing afternoon of beauty and pleasure found within the MFA's world-renowned collection of color woodblock prints. This urban dream of a "floating world," far away from responsibility and cares, featured such subjects as celebrity actors, courtesans, and dream-like landscapes.

Sarah Thompson, assistant curator, Japanese Prints April 3, 2013

Hokusai: The End of an Era

Museum of Fine Art Boston - Video

Hokusai died in 1849, just four years before the opening of Japanese ports to the West dramatically altered Japanese culture. See how Hokusai’s art perspicaciously hinted of things to come, including a fascination with technology, curiosity about the outside world, and growing sense of Japan as a nation. Sarah Thompson, assistant curator, Japanese Prints; curator, “Hokusai”

How to Create a Woodblock Print - How did Hokusai Create the Great Wave?

How were these exquisite carvings actually made, to sit and carve out an image must have required some patience, here Takuji says he thinks it takes a certain type of person to create these blocks.

Japanese artist Takuji Hamanaka takes us inside his Brooklyn studio to explain why he adopted a centuries-old technique to create contemporary woodblock prints.

Find out more: http://www.christies.com/features/Jap...

‘When I started printmaking in Tokyo, Hokusai was one of the artists who was unavoidable,’ says Japanese printmaker Takuji Hamanaka, discussing the enduring influence of the artist who created one of Japan’s most iconic artworks, The Great Wave, to be offered at Christie’s on 25 April.

Although two centuries separate Hamanaka from Hokusai, the contemporary artist’s printmaking has been shaped by the same techniques employed by his predecessor. Working in his Brooklyn studio, he begins by pasting an image drawn on fine paper onto wood. Hours of meticulous carving follow — a ‘therapeutic process’ that, Hamanaka admits, requires the patience of ‘a certain type of person’.

Known as ukiyo-e, this technique flourished from the 17th century in Japan. ‘It was a very casual form of expression back then, made to be printed in large numbers and distributed to the masses,’ explains Hamanaka. In the 1800s, ukiyo-e reached its peak, with masters such as Hokusai developing increasingly intricate prints. Their influence reached as far as Europe, where elements of Japanese style became visible in works by artists ranging from Van Gogh to Degas.

‘Hokusai has influenced many people,’ continues Hamanaka, who remembers being fascinated by the artist’s prints as a young child. While The Great Wave is Hokusai’s most iconic work, Hamanaka references the exceptional range of subjects Hokusai depicted throughout his career — occasionally sketching or painting, but always returning to ukiyo-e.

‘Although the subject of my prints is entirely different to those of Hokusai’s, I come from the same tradition, and still see the possibilities of it,’ says Hamanaka. Working in a country that Hokusai never visited, Hamanaka’s pattern-based art is nevertheless rooted in Japanese practice. ‘There’s a specific beauty that can only be conveyed through this technique,’ he explains.

China - A brief History and Timeline

China a Brief History Timeline

Most of Chinese history can be divided up into a series of dynasties from the start of the Xia dynasty in 2205 BCE to the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912 CE. You can go here to learn more about Ancient China.

BCE

Xia Dynasty (2205 to 1575)

Shang Dynasty (1570 to 1045)

Zhou Dynasty (1045 to 256)

• 771 - Start of the Spring and Autumn Period and the rise if the Eastern Zhou.
• 551 - The Chinese philosopher Confucius is born. His thoughts and ideas will have a great impact on the culture of China.

Qin Dynasty ( 221 to 206)

• 221 - The first emperor of China, Emperor Qin, unites all of China under one rule.
• 220 - Construction on the Great Wall of China begins in an effort to keep out the Mongols.
• 210 - Emperor Qin dies and is buried with the Terra Cotta Army.

Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE)

• 207 - The Chinese Civil Service is established to help run the government.
• 104 - The Chinese Calendar is defined.

CE

• 105 - Paper is invented by Cai Lun.
• 208 - The Battle of Red Cliffs occurs.

Six Dynasties (222 to 581)

• 250 - The religion of Buddhism is introduced. It will become one of the three main religions of China.

Sui Dynasty (589 to 618)

• 609 - The Grand Canal is finished.

Tang Dynasty (618 to 907)

• 868 - The first use of wood block printing to print a book.

Five Dynasties (907 to 960)

Song Dynasty (960 to 1279)

• 1044 - Gunpowder is invented. It is first used for fireworks.
• 1088 - The Chinese invent the magnetic compass.
• 1200 - The Mongol tribes are united under Genghis Khan. He begins his conquest of northern China.

Yuan Dynasty (1279 to 1368)

• 1279 - Mongol leader Kublai Khan defeats the Chinese and takes control of the land. He forms his own dynasty called the Yuan dynasty.

Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644)

• 1405 - Explorer Zheng He makes his first journey to India and Africa. The construction on the Forbidden City begins.
• 1420 - Beijing is made capital of China.
• 1517 - The Portuguese arrive and establish trade with China.

Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912)

• 1900 - The Boxer Rebellion occurs with violence against foreigners and Christians. International forces intervene.
• 1908 - Puyi becomes the last Emperor of China at the age of 2.
• 1910 - Slavery is abolished in China.
• 1911 - The Qing dynasty is overthrown by the Xinhai Revolution.

Republican Era (1912 to 1949)

• 1912 - Revolutionary Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.
• 1912 - China adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
• 1917 - China joins World War I and declares war on Germany.
• 1927 - The Ten Years Civil War occurs between the Kuomintang nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the communist party, led by Mao Zedong.
• 1928 - Chiang Kai-shek becomes the Chairman of the National Government of China.
• 1934 - Mao Zedong leads his people on a retreat across China called the Long March.
• 1937 - China is invaded by Japan. Japan captures several important cities including Beijing.
• 1941 - Japan attacks the United States at Pearl Harbor. China is now on the side of the Allies in World War II.
• 1945 - World War II comes to an end and Japan is defeated. The Civil War between the communists and the nationalists resumes.

Communist Era (1949 to present)

• 1949 - The communists win the war and the People's Republic of China is formed by Mao Zedong.
• 1949 - The nationalists flee to Taiwan and set up their government.
• 1958 - Beginning of the "Great Leap Forward." The plan fails and millions starve to death.
• 1964 - China develops a nuclear bomb.
• 1966 - Mao begins his "Cultural Revolution" in which over one million people are killed.
• 1972 - President Richard Nixon visits China.
• 1974 - The Terra Cotta Warriors are discovered.
• 1984 - The communist party allows for economic reforms with less government involvement in business.
• 1997 - The United Kingdom hands over control of Hong Kong to China.
• 2006 - The Three Gorges Dam is completed.
• 2008 - The summer Olympics are held in Biejing.
• 2010 - China becomes the world's second largest economy behind the United States.

Brief Overview of the History of China

China's history is rich with art, politics, science, and philosophy. It is home to the oldest of the major world civilizations.

China was ruled by various dynasties for much of its history. The first dynasty is believed to be the Xia dynasty which formed somewhere around 2250 BC. The Shang or Yin dynasty gained power around the 14th century BC. The Han Dynasty, which lasted over 400 years from 206 BC to 220 AD, was one of the most influential in China's history. Much of the culture today was created during the Han Dynasty. Later famous dynasties, like the Song and the Tang, continued to refine the culture and bring new innovations to the world including printed money, a permanent navy, and a complex government that ruled over 100 million people.

The last of the great dynasties, the Qing Dynasty, began in 1644. The Ming Dynasty was in power, but was overthrown by the Manchus who put the Qing dynasty into power. During the Qing dynasty, western influences, European trade, and a number of wars all served to weaken China. Great Britain gained control of Hong Kong after the Opium Wars.

In the early 1900s the people of China began to want reform. Revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen created the Chinese Nationalist Peoples Party, also called the KMT or Kuomintang. After Sun Yat-sen died, Chiang Kai-shek became leader of the party. However, Chiang turned on the leaders of the CCP, the communist party, and had many of them killed. The Chinese Civil War broke out between the KMT and the communists. A new leader, Mao Zedong took over the communists and led the CCP on a famous "Long March" to a distant area of China. There they regrouped and eventually gained the strength to force Chiang Kai-shek out of China and to the island of Taiwan.

Mao Zedong established the Peoples Republic of China on October 1, 1949. This new government was strongly allied with the Soviet Union and modelled its government after Soviet communism.

In 1958, Mao Zedong embarked on a new plan called the Great Leap Forward. Unfortunately, this plan backfired and China experienced a terrible famine including much starvation and death. Over the next several decades China would struggle with political reforms and economic policy, slowly recovering and becoming a major world power again. Today, China is a major world power and the second largest economy in the world.

Walls of Water: Hokusai and the Great Wave of Camberwell

 

A sell-out exhibition at the British Museum has proved once again the popularity of Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, whose Great Wave is said to be the world's most reproduced image. One mural in south London was nearly wiped out when a drug lab exploded next door, but as Alex Marshall explains, there are many more on walls around the world.

The whole article can be found on the BBC website here

BBC Geisha Girl - Japanese True Beauty - why is this tradition still popular in the modern age?

BBC Documentary (2104) - Geisha Girl

Yukina is from a small town in the north of Japan. She has made the decision to leave school at 15 and move to the ancient city of Kyoto to follow one of Japan's most traditional professions. Stunningly filmed and with exclusive access, Yukina's journey gives a unique insight into the sacrifice and dedication needed to enter the closed but privileged world of the Geisha.

After Japan's economic collapse in the 1990s the world of the geisha was badly affected. The rich clients diminished and with it a profession that dated back hundreds of years. Today there are fewer than 1,000 geisha in the whole of Japan.

From the bustling streets of Kyoto we go inside the Okiya, or the geisha house, where Yukina will now live in for the next five years with the Okasan or geisha mother. Discipline is paramount. Under house rules Yukina is banned from returning home for 18 months and is not allowed to phone home. After only a few days she's finding it hard to cope with the loneliness and isolation. "I miss my friends. They are all at home together and I wonder what is going on. Here I have no one to talk to."

In stark contrast to the formality of the geisha house in Kyoto we meet her family back home in rural Yamangata, Northern Japan (her warm, fun-loving mother, who is concerned and worried for Yukina says, "I couldn't believe her decision to train to be a geisha. It is so unusual we were staggered. I miss her so much") and her school friends who tell stories about the Yukina they knew, the teenage girl who'd said she wanted to become a cartoonist.

Yukina explains that she thought she'd like to become a geisha because of her love of Japanese dance. But at just 15 years old she's afraid of talking to men and is unsure of how she'd handle any unwanted advances. "I hope it doesn't happen as I'm only a teenager but if it did I'd try my hardest to politely refuse." We join her at her first official party, where she has to entertain drunken clients nearly three times her age. Through the first six months of her training she sheds her jeans and teenage identity, taking a new geisha name and wearing traditional clothes and make-up.

Six months after Yukina left home we join her mother as she arrives in Kyoto to attend Yukina's Misedashi, the official ceremony where she is accepted into the community as a trainee geisha. It's the first time she's seen her since she left and is shocked at how grown-up she's become. Formally dressed up, she is one of the newest members of the geisha community and is paraded through the streets of Kyoto.

Muromachi Period

This video is a part of Japanese Art History Series by Little Art Talks.

The Muromachi period (室町時代 Muromachi jidai, also known as the Muromachi era, the Ashikaga era, or the Ashikaga period) is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. 

Utamaro - Portraits of Ohisa of the Takashima Teashop

Kitagawa Utamaro Collection

Ohisa of the Takashima Teashop

All reproduced close to original dimensions on 170gsm white paper with satin finish

Ohisa was a favourite of many of the ukiyo-e painters however for Utamaro she was a particular favourite and many prints were produced.

Ohisa was the daughter of the proprietor of the Takashima tea shop(s) in Edo and seems to have made her reputation serving tea at the family shop near Ryōgoku Bridge.

Size: Ōban (38.1x24.8cm)

On this print her beauty is celebrated in the poem, top right, by Karabana Tadaaya. The translation reads:

Charms and tea are brimming over
And neither gets cold!
Let me not wake
From this lucky dream of the New Year
At Takashimaya.

Ohisa turns to glance questioningly at someone just outside the picture. Her black gauze kimono has a pattern of yellow and white flashes, and the neck-line is carefully arranged to reveal the back of her neck, Utamaro was a master of capturing the female beauty especially the back of the neck. Her obi (sash) has a design of a plover wheeling above stylized waves. The fan bears the triple oak-leaf family crest (mon) of the Takashima family.

Takashima Ohisa Using Two Mirrors to Observe Her Coiffure

Night of the Asakusa Marketing Festival

Size: Ōban 14.25 × 9.875 in (36.2 × 25.1 cm)

ca. 1795 - This print sold for $138k at Christies

Osen of the Kagiya and Ohisa of Takashim

Size: Ōban; 39 x 26 cm (15 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.)
Publisher Tsuruya Kiemon (Senkakudô)

ca. 1793-4
Osen at the Kagiya Teahouse by the Gate of the Kasamori Shrine hands Ohisa a scroll.

Size: Ōban; 39 x 26 cm (15 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.)
Publisher Tsuruya Kiemon (Senkakudô)

ca. 1793-4
Osen at the Kagiya Teahouse by the Gate of the Kasamori Shrine hands Ohisa a scroll (I wonder what is in that scroll and who it is from?)

 

Takashima Ohisa

 

 

Three Beauties of the Present Day (Tôji san bijin):

Tomimoto Toyohina, Naniwaya Kita, Takashima Ohisa.
The print is also known under the titles Three Beauties of the Kansei Era (寛政三美人 Kansei San Bijin) and Three Famous Beauties (高名三美人 Kōmei San Bijin)
 Nishiki-e colour woodblock print 37.9 cm × 24.9 cm (14.9 in × 9.8 in)
Published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō

 

 

Five Beauties Playing Go 

(from right): Tachibanaya Otatsu, Naniwaya Okita, Tomimoto Toyohina, Takashima Ohisa, Hiranoyo Oseyo

囲碁を囲む五美人　「橘屋おたつ　難波屋おきた　富本豊雛　高しまおひさ　ひらのやおせよ」
Publisher Maruya Bun'emon (Bunjudô) c1793. Signed Utamaro ga
歌麿画
ôban; 27.3 x 39.8 cm (10 3/4 x 15 11/16 in.)

 

Arm-wrestling (Ude-zumô): Champion of the West, Naniwaya Okita of Asakusa 

(Nishi no kata, seki, Asakusa Naniwaya Kita) versus Champion of the East, Takashimaya Ohisa of Ryôgoku (Higashi no kata, seki, Ryôgoku Takashima Hisa)  

Mid- and Late- Heian Period of Japan (Part2)

This video is a part of Japanese Art History Series by Little Art Talks. Hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. Keep watching more videos in this series:

Mentioned Shotoku Taishi Eden Raigōzu & Amida Buddha in Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in, a temple in Uji, Kyoto Genji Monogatari Emaki Shigisan Engi Emaki Ban Dainagon Ekotoba Further Reading & Sources: History of Japanese Art by Penelope Mason Japanese Art by Joan Stanley-Baker

Azuchi-Momoyama Period

Art history of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama Period and Early Edo period.
This video is a part of Japanese Art History Series by Little Art Talks.

The Azuchi–Momoyama period (安土桃山時代 Azuchi–Momoyama jidai) is the final phase of the
Sengoku period (戦国時代 Sengoku jidai) in Japan. These years of political unification led to the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. It spans the years from c. 1573 to 1600, during which time Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, imposed order upon the chaos that had pervaded since the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate. 

Further Reading & Sources:
History of Japanese Art by Penelope Mason Japanese Art by Joan Stanley-Baker

Mentioned

Palace-Castles
Shoin
Katsura Imperial Villa
Rakuchu Rakugai Funaki Set
Namban Screens
Blue and Gold Style
Monochromatic Style
Kano School
Kano Eitoku, Jukoin fusuma
Kano Eitoku, Cypress
Kano Mitsunobu,  Flowers and Birds of the Four Seasons 
Kangakuin, Onjoji
Kano Sanraku, Genji Monogatari - The Carriage Fight
Hasegawa Tohaku, Monkey Reaching for the Moon
Hasegawa Tohaku, Shounji, Maple Tree
Hasegawa Tohaku, Pine Forest
Tawaraya Sotatsu
Hon'ami (Honami) Koetsu
Shin kokinshu
Raijin, Gold of Thunder, and Fuujin, God of Wind

"Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties (Gonin bijin aikyo kurabe) - Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿

Kitagawa Utamaro Collection

Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties 

(Gonin bijin aikyo kurabe)

PUBLISHED BY: Published by Omiya Gonkuro c.1795-6.

FORMAT: Color woodblock print; oban triptych 36.6 x 73.5 cm
CARVER:

NOTES:The picture-riddle (in the circular cartouche top right) gives the identity of the beauty on each design. In the second edition the riddle is replaced with a flower design.

 The Suminoe at Shiba (Shiba Suminoe)

Kisegawa of the Matsubaya

 Hanazuma of the Hyogoya house

Hinazuru of the Keizetsuro

Hanaôgi of the Gomeirô

Early Heian Period (Part1)

Art History of the Capital of Peace and Tranquility: Japan's Heian Period.

This video is a part of Japanese Art History Series by Little Art Talks. Hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. Keep watching more videos in this series:

The Heian period (平安時代 Heian jidai) is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height.

Mentioned
Taizokai (Womb World) and Kongokai (Diamond World) of Ryokai Mandala, at Kyoogokokuji (Toji), Kyoto Sculptural Mandala, Kudo of Kyoogokokuji (Toji), Kyoto Standing Yakushi at Jingoji, Kyoto Five story Pagoda at Muroji Seated Shaka, Mirokudo, Muroji Further Reading & Sources: History of Japanese Art by Penelope Mason Japanese Art by Joan Stanley-Baker

Kamakura Period

Art history of Japan's Kamakura Period.

This video is a part of Japanese Art History Series by Little Art Talks.

The Kamakura period (鎌倉時代 Kamakura jidai, 1185–1333) is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shōgun, Minamoto no Yoritomo. The period is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan.

Further Reading & Sources:
History of Japanese Art by Penelope Mason Japanese Art by Joan Stanley-Baker Shunjobo Chogen sculpture Todaiji Nandaimon Kongo-rikishi (Nio guardian) statues by Unkei and Kaikei Hokuendo (North Octagonal Hall), Kofukuji - Miroku, Muchaku, Seshin by Unkei Priest Kuya statue by Kosho Portrait of Priest Myoe Kegon engi emaki Genji Monogatari Emaki Murasaki Shikibu's Diary Emaki Haya Raigo at Chionin Yamagoshi Raigo at Zenrinji Yasumigaoka Triad (Hachiman) Kitano Tenjin engi emaki Kitano Tenmangu Kasuga Shrine Deer Mandala

Hideyoshi and his Five Wives Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Higashiyama

Kitagawa Utamaro Collection

Hideyoshi and his Five Wives Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Higashiyama 

(Taiko gosai rakuto yukan no zu) 

PUBLISHED BY: c. 1803/04

FORMAT: Color woodblock print; oban triptych 36.6 x 73.5 cm
CARVER: Kagaya

NOTES: Also known as Kanji : 太閤五妻洛東遊観之図 Series Kanji : None
Toyotomi Hideyoshi at flower-viewing party with his wife (Kita no Mandokoro), concubines (Lady Kana, Lady Sanjo, Ishida Mitsunari, Lady Matsu no Maru, Okoi-no-kata, Lady Yodo) and attendants.
Signed: (printed) Utamaro hitsu
In the early summer of 1804, artists Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?–1806), Kitagawa Tsukimaro (act. 1794–1836), Utagawa Toyokuni (1769–1825), Katsukawa Shuntei (1770–1820) and Katsukawa Shun'ei (1762–1819), the writer Jippensha Ikku (1765–1831) and their publishers were punished for representing sixteenth-century warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in commercial prints.