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digital archive re-examining japanese art history beyond aesthetics. exploring women, bodies, gender, sexuality, consent & pleasure 💌 by @otsumommy

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Welcome back to Makura Talk! Since it’s been so long since I’ve last posted on this account, I wanted to reintroduce myself and my goals with this account🫡 My name is Koharu and I created this account in 2021 with the goal to destigmatize conversations around sex, reproductive health, pleasure, consent, etc, through observing Japanese art history (especially of the erotic), and it’s various ways it has represented women’s bodies to this day. I have always felt that not enough dialogue around topics of sexual violence prevention or sex education has been happening in the Japanese art field (or within Japanese culture in general...) all the while, Japanese male artists so often continue to depict exploitative images of women and themes such as r*pe for the sake of art: As an art historian and feminist theorist, my research has been focusing on these patterns in Japanese art history, on how especially Japanese women's and girl’s bodies (often seen in hyper-eroticized, childlike, or grotesque manners) were so often used as metaphors for nationalism, modernization, post-war anxiety, sites for colonial aggression, war victimhood mindset, or just simply a site in which art’s boundaries was challenged by cis male artists.

My aim in observing these artworks is not to criticize and dismiss them entirely but rather observe them while practicing feminist theory, and questioning if and how these representations of women, girls, and/or the erotic could continue to feed into continued violence on our bodies. Like don’t get me wrong, I am obsessed w erotic art works and am inspired constantly by works like these! Which is also why I created this platform to focus also on the positive aspects of embracing the erotic and erotic arts, as another feminist theoretical tool, for healing from violence and reclaiming power within our bodies🤍

I want this page to serve as an archival & community engagement tool, introducing new women artists long ignored in Japanese art history, and creating dialogues around sex education, reproductive rights, healing from trauma, and sexual violence prevention with a fun twist of enjoying visual arts! Thank you for being here💗xo
Image: Fukui Kuni by @makuratalk

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3 years ago

Welcome back to Makura Talk!
In the coming weeks, I wanted to dive a little deeper into the world of Ayashii art. Ayashii (怪しい) translated directly as suspicious and mysterious, is an art movement only recently coined and popularized during 2021’s exhibition “Ayashii : Decadent and Grotesque Images of Beauty in Modern Japanese Art” curated by Reiko Nakamura.

This exhibition and Nakamura-san’s research have only recently popularized the auspicious term “Ayashii” to describe work from the late 19th to the early 20th century, often describing unsettling, unconventional, embracing the “decadent, grotesque, erotic, mysterious.” And I would also add often wonderfully queer too <3

The art form challenges traditional ideals of beauty, exploring a wide genre from femme fatales, yokai/monsters, decadence, sensuality, and western influence, including but not limited to symbolism and art nouveau.

This is by far one of my favorite art movements, and it has long fascinated me throughout my research. With the intense rise of Western conservative beauty ideals ("clean girl aesthetic," skinnyTok, the Ozempic era) that seem to be everywhere in media these days, I've been thinking a lot about these works that pushed back against conventional and traditional standards of beauty. Often created by women and queer artists as far back as the 19th and 20th centuries!!! these works found beauty in the unsettling, the imperfect, and the non-conforming.

The beauty of a woman maddened or a woman who makes viewers uncomfortable with her unconventional style. A messy woman with messy hair and bags under her eyes. Not perfectly adorned. Not submissive but expressive, bold, and loud. Not effortlessly gorgeous. There is a certain beauty in that, and I believe it deserves to be studied more as an aesthetic form apart from the bijin-styles we see explored so often in Japanese art history. It's my hope that we can keep exploring this theme together here hehe 🤸

Titles of works in comments below ↓ by @makuratalk

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4 months ago

In my earlier posts I have discussed how Ukiyoe and Shunga was used to portray high courtesans (good and bad). Today I want to skip forward to the early Meiji era (1870s) to discuss this piece of work titled Beauty (Oiran) by Takahashi Yuichi (1872) ⭐️

Takahashi Yuichi, was most notable for his pioneering work in developing the yoga (Western-style) art movement, just as oil painting and oil painting materials finally reached Japan. Compared to a lot of prolific Japanese artists at the time who were incredibly hesitant to Western materials and the idea of Japanese art forms changing, Takahashi was excited and enthusiastic in practicing in this new material and art form.

In this particular painting, we see Grand Courtesan named Koine who took up the challenge of modeling for Takahashi when oil painting was still new, and therefore considered "beginner" in European standards.

This particular painting gives such a real texture of her skin and white makeup, her clothing, the hair pins, her gaze makes us wonder the things she must have seen and experienced. She is iconic for being down to pose for something so experimental at the time because most courtesans wanted to be portrayed in Ukiyoes which were safe and flattering. But Grand Courtesans were the IT GIRLS of modern fashion and culture at the time. Of course it was a baddie who shifted art historical practices in Japan. However, apparently, she did cry after seeing this portrait of herself, saying it didn’t look like her, but hey, who hasn’t had a meltdown after desperately begging your friend to take a pic of you. It happens. This is like taking a pic without a filter, which god forbid, a Japanese woman does!!

This is one of those striking pieces that left quite a mark on me during my graduate studies. Such a cool blend of Western and Japanese techniques, along with thinking abt the changing beauty standards of Japan.

I believe this piece of work also deeply ties into the Ayashii (decadent/bewitching/mystic/erotic) art movement that came to the rise later on, which I cannot wait to dive more into in the coming weeks because it is by far one of my MOST favorite art movements of all time.

Till then! xo by @makuratalk

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5 months ago

Happy spring🪲🕷️🐛🐞🦋
Like the bugs n flowers in springtime, I am back from a long hiatus, buzzing with excitement, feeling energized as ever to return to a life where I can research + write + be pissed at the state of the world through observing the power of the erotic arts together with you all.

image: Pickup Magazine featuring おんな昆虫記 (Onna Konchuki/The Insect Woman) by mangaka Kazuo Kamimura on the cover.
(Trust we will go over the legacy of Kazuo Kamiura soon!!)

Xo, Ko by @makuratalk

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5 months ago

As I’ve explored in a past posts, in this time period in Japan, sex and nudity was not as taboo as it is today for multiple reasons. One big factor was that Shintoism and Buddhism saw sex as a natural part of life, and not sinful nor shameful. People at this time were also quite used to seeing each other naked, for example, at communal baths or working nude in rice fields. This meant that nudity was not seen as inherently sexual which is why you’ll often see shunga depicting figures that are fully clothed. It’s also why eroticism in shunga had to be emphasized in other ways – hence the comically large genitals. Shunga serves as a testament to an uninhibited, open-minded society and offered artists with opportunities to express originality and unbridled emotion of the human spirit. Some of these artists, particularly Hokusai and Kuniyoshi def had a lot of fun creating bizarre and hilarious erotic prints. Here are some of my fav bizarre prints from a collection titled: Ghost Stories - Night Procession of the Hundred Demon (開談百気夜行) done by Utagawa Kuniyoshi in 1830. Like idk wtf is goin on in so many of these but it’s creative and sometimes grotesque and violent but mostly fun 🫡

I’ve collected the description below and image sources from the kuniyoshiproject.com so if you are interested in more info I recommend their bit outdated but useful site!

“This series shows male and female genitalia in the guise of various demons. Each print bears a title, many of which are bawdy and often pun the demons’ names. The prints in this series are each about 5 by 3.5 inches (13 by 9 centimeters), a size known as koban."

Image titles:
1. Phallus serpent with Toad and snail, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1830
2. Shunshoku hatsuneno ume, Utagawa Kunisada, 1842
3. Cunt Monk (Tsubi bozu), 1840 - large demon said to have haunted ships at sea
4. Pillar of flames (Hi-hashira), 1830 - flaming pillar of penises rising above the roofs of yoshiwara (pun on fire starter/火柱)
5. Penis skeleton (karikkotsu), 1830
6. Rokurokubi, 1830
7. Nailing a Dick Doll at the Hour of the Ox (Ushi no toki mairi mara ningyo o utsu), 1830
8. Dripping mountain, 1830
9. Phallus and vagina shaped mountain god, 1830 by @makuratalk

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4 years ago

happy new years my bunnies!! 🐰 my resolution is to post here more often :’) here are some hilarious and creative japanese playboy covers from 1966~1968 titled 女体動物園 (female body zoo). is this dehumanizing women to solely body parts? or actually a clever way of embracing female anatomy and escaping strict japanese nudity censorship’s? either case, tag urself. im the shrimp 🦐 by @makuratalk

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4 years ago

PT4// while we observe these wonderfully talented and beautiful art works that have come out of the time, lets not forget the women who really were the backbone of japanese culture wether they wanted to be or not. i think this similar male colonizer way of thinking of the female body and land was continually practiced by the japanese imperial army and their establishment of military organized forced prostitution/ianfu in occupied countries (and that’s a whole other long post). as much as i love shunga and ukiyoe prints and how incredibly important they are in japanese art history, and let’s not sugarcoat the problematic aspects of what has been depicted/romanticized in it either. and that’s on good critical ethical analysis luv. what are your thoughts? pls lmk if there’s anything i missed! more soon! -ko

image source: keisai eisen from the series courtesan of five houses (keisei gokenjin) (pun on five sages) march edition, edo period by @makuratalk

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4 years ago

PT3/ the life of a courtesans of yoshiwara, was life was glamorized and idealized in many of these prints with heavy male gaze. the women are often seen in expensive clothing and depicted with longing stares. while sure, having this legalized red light district setting was beneficial for economic purposes, preserving and promoting arts, and perhaps provided more safety for some sex workers as well as allowed the few talented women liberties of education and high fashion, it was no utopia (except for the rich men duh). while the space allowed the few talented women liberties of education of arts and high fashion, everything she wore, and was taught was for the sole purpose of male entertainment. is that really freedom? unfortunately no true records of these women’s thoughts and experiences exist bcs it would’ve been bad for business but i’m sure it was not an easy environment to live in like some of these art works want you to believe.

image source: ochiai yoshiiku, kakusenro, 1863 (painting depicts courtesans of the kakusenro brothel) by @makuratalk

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4 years ago

PT2/ born into impoverishment, girls were sold into the yoshiwara brothels at around age 7 or 8 without having a choice of their occupation. this tradition was rationalized by confucian ideals that allowed children to work off a duty to their parents who usually brokered 10 year contracts with the brothel owners to work off family debt. the little girls would usually do daily chores at the brothels, and tended to their sister courtesans, cleaning, and delivering messages. if the girl was gifted by age 11 or 12, she would be chosen for elite courtesan training where she would learn etiquette and refined arts form masters including how to play flute or a 3 stringed instrument such as shamisen to sing paint write haiku/calligraphy/tea ceremony/go/backgammon/kickball. courtesans could continue up the ranks from kamuro (young female students), hashi-joro (lower ranking courtesans), shinzo (apprentice), tayu (high ranking courtesans), and then to the highest ranking oiran role. the more popular you were, the more opportunities for education and certain liberties were provided. the elite oiran, however, only accounted for 2% of the estimated 3000-5000 prostitutes in yoshiwara. not many girls got the chance to reach certain liberties, and were continuously forced to work as lower ranking prostitutes. women were forced to retire at the age of 27 (bcs that’s fkn old.. ) and if lucky might gain their freedom via a proposed position as a wife or mistress for a rich samurai or merchant or go back into a life of poverty and paying back debts some other way. cont…

image source: meikun keichû no yosooi, kitagawa utamaro, around 1800
(you can see the young girl working as an assistant to one of the courtesans here) by @makuratalk

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4 years ago

PT 1. let’s talk about ukiyoe 浮世絵 & shunga 春画! but before we do i wanted to dive a bit into the history of yoshiwara pleasure quarters, the infamous government licensed sex industry of the edo period and THE hub of shunga prints. while some might have a more romanticized idea of yoshiwara red light district from observing the ukiyoe works and the culture it produced at the time, it’s incredibly important to remember the context and history of the actual people who worked in these brothels as well.

yoshiwara was established in 1617 by the tokugawa shogunate with the goal of restricting prostitution to certain parts of edo. while the courtesans and brothels were the main component in yoshiwara, it also provided foundations for edo period culture and arts including kabuki theatre, kyoka (comic poetry), vocal music, flower arrangement, tea ceremony, high fashion, festivals, calligraphy, sumo wrestling, kano style painting, ukiyoe, and eventually the rise of geishas.

the courtesans of yoshiwara are often depicted glamorously and romanticized in the thousands of woodblock prints made of them. the reality was that most of the workers depicted were young girls from poor households sold from their parents, working as sex workers to pay back their family debt. cont….

image source: the yoshiwara, from the series views of famous places in edo (edo meishô zue), utagawa hiroshige II 1862 by @makuratalk

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4 years ago

hii everyone! im sorry it’s been MONTHS but im back! and have organized posts so hopefully i won’t go mia for a while (but no promises) gomenne 🥲

image : garo magazine/ 1994 issue introducing upcoming women manga artists of the time / cover illustration by kiriko nananan by @makuratalk

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5 years ago

hi bbs i AM BACK! art by kazuo kamimura / a manga artist who illustrated the famous Lady Snowblood (later adapted into film which ill talk about some other time ✨) by @makuratalk

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5 years ago