Final Paper

Lisa Khadaran
Final Paper
Word Count: 3841

The Female Idols of Japan:

Idols are noticed every day by society, whether their newest song is played on the radio, or they’re seen in the latest drama, or advertising their newest fashion lines[1]. When we look at Idols, what is it that society sees; what is meant to be seen, and what are the messages that we are supposed to take away? The concept of what it means to be an Idol is relatively simple, which I define as a person or a group of individuals impressing mores in society, usually consciously. A particular website defines Idols as, “…mostly female media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly cute and pretty and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media.”[2] Both of these are very acceptable definitions, and even though most of the attraction of Idols seems focused in the Japanese culture and its Idols, it’s important to keep in mind that while the Idol is a big part of Japanese culture, there are examples of Idols in every culture. There are Korean Idols, Taiwanese Idols, British Idols, American Idols, and etcetera. While they may play major or minor roles in the shaping of society, they’re still there.

Idols in Japan are grouped in to numerous categories, but to name a few, there are: cyber, music, commercial, drama, and swimsuit. While many Idols may fall in to more than one category, most are specialized in their entertainment talents. Idols are celebrities, and are shown in a certain light to the public, but what are the overly glamorized female and male Idols really?

Females have been around the business earlier than men, since the seventies. While there were women actresses, models, and singers before the seventies, the Idol phenomenon really came in to play in the early seventies - the Idol world in Japan was really established by the French film Cherchez l'Idole, with Sylvie Vartan, in 1963 – and the Idol term became applied to any cute female singer or actress.[3] Females dominate in the number of those that make a debut more than males, especially in the early years of the Idol. In the early years of the female Idol, they were portrayed as upper-class females, living a luxurious, but modest, life to the public. They were young girls, and would make guest appearances on shows - singing or entertaining in some way, and would be expected to uphold the image that their company had created for them. The public, especially females, was given the idea that if they spent money to look, follow, or acted, like the female Idol, they would in turn become or get what the Idol’s image usually represented: the ideal female, a proper lady, or in some cases, a lady in a rags to riches situation. The public couldn’t have been more wrong – often female Idols were underpaid, lived in poor conditions than what the companies suggested they did to the public, and were granted little freedom to do as they pleased. It’s surprising to hear that they were paid very little, especially since they were celebrities, but the money made trickled down to the Idol after the writers, publicists, and others were paid. However, this was in the seventies. As years went by, not only were Idols granted more rights and saw more of the money, the public also saw changes of images projected on to the Idols and the evolution of what the Idols would stand for in society. Idols came and went; the eighties was considered a golden age for Idols, where many Idols made their debut, but only a few were able to maintain their Idol status.

The evolution of the female Idol is really remarkable, where they seem to go from being portrayed as being modest, sweet-tempered in the past, to being overly sexualized and almost diva-ish in the present; however, these are the extremes, and of course there are mediums especially for those Idols whose image is to defy the image that society has supposedly already given them – it’s almost a conundrum in a way. By looking at female Idols in the past and those in the present in Japan, you can see how the images have changed. It’s also important to realize that most Idols were young females, most in their early teenage years, and that unless they continuously modified their image, there wasn’t much of a chance for them to stay as an Idol. The change through the years can be speculated on, that perhaps the change came from the new freedoms Idols gained. The seventies show a more restricted Idol, but when the Golden Age of Idols – the eighties, came, Idols were given more leniencies, which have continued to increase as the years go on.

In the seventies, this is what the average Idol looked like:

Originally a model, this is Idol, Megumi Asaoka, who debuted in 1972.[4][5] What should we take away from her album cover? Well, although only her face is shown, she is smiling, adding a sort of charm to the picture. The collar of her shirt is white, and that contrasts what looks to be an argyle sweater. At first, it’s strange to see her picture to the right of the album, because today, most Idols have full body or head shots taking up the majority of the cover. At first, it looks like she’s looking away and not directly at the viewer of this album, but the clever placement of her name to the left draws the viewer’s attention to her eyes, which creates an illusion that she’s actually looking at the viewer. The sun in the background makes it seem like she’s softer. We can see this in other Idols that debuted in the seventies, that soft feature. This is one of Oba Kumiko’s album covers:

Oba Kumiko debuted in 1977, and was referred to as the ‘younger sister of a 100million people’[6]. Even though the picture is not that great of a quality, the viewer is immediately drawn to her smile, and her bright striped yellow sweater. She is, unlike Megumi, centered and is facing the viewer. Her arms are back, with her hands to her face, almost as if she’s embarresed to have her picture taken. This display of innocence makes her seem charming, and non-sexualized at all, especially if she’s being referred to as a younger sister figure. She’s not wearing any overly revealing clothing, or any other complicated clothing, like how most Idols wore certain costumes and frilly things. The title of her album is to the left of her face, and the viewer is drawn to it because of the position and expression on Kumiko’s face. The background is actually flowers and leaves, which are blurry compared to her, and the the red flowers are over powered by the yellow of the shirt. Yellow is generally an exhuberent expressing color, so there’s almost a contrast of shyness with fun and activity. As the decade changed, the fashion and Idol world changed too. This is Koizumi Kyoko’s album cover, Hippies:

In the Golden Age of Idols, Koizumi Kyoko debuted in 1982, and her album cover shows the viewer a far more sexier version of the Idol than Kumiko’s or Megumi’s[7]. Even though the majority of her body is in the picture, her face is more attractive, making this what I consider to be a head shot. Her album name is to the right of her face, and done in the color red, reading down and not across like the previous album cover names. Her picture is black and white, with the only real splash of color being the red and the yellow of the label. Her hair is fanned out, making it look wild and with her mouth open slightly and her eyes looking directly at the viewer, this picture oozes sexuality. She isn’t smiling like Megumi or Kumiko, and it makes her seem almost untouchable. Idols in the eighties were given more freedoms, and the companies would also start competions among the Idols, like who could get the most fans or most albums sold, but there usually wasn’t real drama among the Idols. The competion added to the character of the model, and when looking at Kyoko’s album cover, it could be possible that this over sexualized untouchablity is fuelled in some way by these competions, especially since the soft pinks are abandoned in favor of the red, and that is the only color. This pouty look seemed to be big, because it’s seen on other album covers and other pictures of Idols during this year. This is Nakamori Akina:

She debuted in 1982 as well, and while this isn’t her debut album, it follows the pouty untouchable trend[8]. The color palate chosen for this is not as colorful or as bright as Megumi and Kumiko’s albums. Akina has her head thrown back with her hands thrown in front of her. Her hair isn’t as fanned out as Kyoko’s, but it’s still wild in its own way. Her shirt is actually v-necked, and that makes her seem leaner in a way – possibly to be more attractive to her audience. She also has a sharper appearance to her, with her body more lines and angles than Kyoko’s on the cover. The text of her name is slanted, and the viewer may not even notice that there is a background behind her because she is the focus of the picture. This is another one of her album covers:

She still maintains that same untouchable look. Akina has her mouth open, not to smile, but instead in a way to say, ‘huh? What are you looking at?’ Her hands are placed in a way that makes it seem like she was interrupted, and that she really had other things to do than take the photo. She is more done up with make-up and her earrings provide more of a curve to her features. Unlike her other album, she no longer is made of harsh lines and angles, but instead looks softer, but still untouchable. I believe that this album cover was released a few years after the previous one, but the viewer starts to see a trend. In fact, this trend follows through to the present as well. Most of today’s Idols are shown in similar positions on their albums and for photo-shoots. It’s very popular, and although there are others that choose to not utilize it, more often they do than don’t. The trend of untouchable and sexy is splashed across and inside popular magazines in Japan today, with different degrees of softness and harshness.

In Looking at the Music, featuring Bonnie Pink, this is the picture they chose to represent the Idol:

Bonnie Pink debuted in 1995, and is still very popular today. Again, looking at this picture, she still has that pouty look on her face, and her eyes are looking at the viewer. Her head is cocked to the side, and again, just like Akina, she almost looks like she had better things to do than take the photo. The neutral colors make her look softer, and there aren’t really any harsh lines at all. Looking at the Music suggests that Bonnie Pink is an anti-Idol, much like America’s Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne, and Vanessa

Carlton, and is with her own style.[9] Frankly, while that may be true to an extent in Bonnie Pink’s singing, it is not with the way she is represented visually.

This is Bonnie Pink’s cover for her song, Ring a Bell[10]. Now, while this image may seem different than the others seen so far, it’s difficult to see the subtle differences without a comparison. This is Ayaka Komatsu:

As an Idol, she’s done work in dramas and does AV work[11]. Looking at the images, one is an album cover and one is from an actual photo-shoot. The first noticeable difference is the neck. Their heads are put in to a position to show off the neck and the collarbone. There is also the line of the shoulder, which is not as visible with Bonnie Pink, but still there. The tilt of the head shows the pulling of skin near the neck on both photos, showing a clean line that makes an angle down to the chest. The next similarity is the lips. While their colors are roughly the same, they both have that pouty look, although it seems more amused now, and not at all standoff-ish. Although, Ayaka, if you tilt her picture at certain angles, will look either amused or like she was bothered about being interrupted in her scantily there top. Going more on Ayaka, she actually played an Idol in a drama. It’s interesting to see how an Idol looks while playing an Idol. First, it’s important to ask, is who she playing a part of her character? or does she actually play the character as herself in the drama? Who’s playing who?

While it’s not uncommon to find Idols acting in dramas, it’s pretty difficult to find them actually in them as Idols. Ayaka, in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, plays Minako Aino, who is not only an Idol, but also Sailor Venus. This image is actually a part of the collectable card series, and shows the scene in the drama where Minako is answering interview questions about her career[12]. Unlike the previous picture of her, she is smiling and her body language is very open. Even though her arms are crossed, she’s leaning forward suggesting that she is positively interested. She’s the focus of the image – there isn’t anyone other than herself in focus of the camera. Her outfit is also very interesting. The white of the jacket makes her blend in to the background, except for her hair that drapes over her shoulder and makes the white of the jacket distinguishable from the white of the walls. The hat provides a sense of cuteness, and the cross is more for fashion than for religion. The orange border provides a sharp contrast, and the curve of the border frames exactly who you should be looking at, if the blur of the reporters in the background wasn’t enough of an indication. The curve also softens the sharp edges of the jacket, complementing the curves in the hat and Minako’s face. This isn’t Ayaka the viewer is supposed to be looking at, but Minako. She’s made to look more open and friendlier, and everything that Sailor Venus should represent as the Guardian of Love. The majority of Ayaka’s other cast members are or were Idols as well. Most Idols retire after their teenage years, as society may consider them too old to be defined as an Idol, and so they go on to either modeling, acting in dramas, voice acting, or getting married. One notable Idol that acted alongside Ayaka in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon was Mew Azama[13], who went on to become the image girl of Japan Trans Ocean Air.[14] That’s not to say that there aren’t any older Idols, because there are.

Koda Kumi is in her mid-twenties, and is still going strong as an Idol. Kingdom is one of her newest albums, featuring different covers depending on which version you buy.[15] For the CD:

The mouth is very important here. Like the other images, the mouth is open and while there is that pouty look to it, there’s more seduction in the look than any malice. It’s not really a head shot, nor a body shot, and the objects, and not the face, which the viewer should focus on, seems to be the cards she’s holding with her jeweled finger nails. There’s a gold tone to the album picture, most appropriate of the album’s name. The viewer really can’t make out the jewelry that she’s wearing, but they’ll notice the kings on the cards almost immediately, and that the top card with the hearts is more noticeable than the one with what looks to be spades. Koda Kumi’s lips are framed by her hands and the cards, which cause the viewer’s eyes to travel up the nose to the eyes. Each cover is unique for the media format the album is released on. This cover was for the CD, while the cover of the DVD release looked like this[16]:

Why would the image that she’s projecting be different for the type of media that it’s advertising? This image shows the upper body of Koda Kumi, and the viewer can clearly see more than just Koda Kumi’s face and the cards. The print on the chairs makes the atmosphere seem even more luxurious, and the jewelry that Koda Kumi is wearing is now clearly visible. The cards though are still one of the main focuses of the image, but now the viewer is drawn in a way from the King of Hearts to the lines of her body, where the eyes travel not only up to her face, but also down to the tips of her fingers, creating a frame for the name of the album. There are more lines now than before, what with the way the arms are crossed and the collar bone slopes. Again, there is also a line from the skin being pulled taut by the cocking of the head to the side. Her eyes are made to look wider than on the CD cover’s version, but she still sports the sexy seductive pout. Again, why would the album covers be different? The company could still make money if they were the same, but, hypothetically, the different album covers for the same selection of music make them in higher demand. Different visuals of Idols cause not only collectors, but also fans to buy the different versions. Instead of only buying on CD, the DVD version is bought, as well as the DVD Live version. As the prices of the media go up, so does the amount of Koda Kumi in visibility. For the DVD Live version, this is the cover[17]:

Taking in the new picture, more wealth is displayed and no longer are the cards one of the main focuses of the picture, enhancing Koda Kumi’s look. Instead, Koda Kumi is with her hands out away from her and her legs placed in a manner that suggest royalty more than Idol, or perhaps maybe she is more of the former than the latter. Although the crown was barely visible in the previous picture, only a suggestion of wealth, now it is fully displayed. The gold tone of the picture is better shown, but now with more browns and olive greens. More of her outfit is seen, and although the scenery suggests that the setting is more for someone from the Victorian era, Koda Kumi’s clearly chic golden mini-dress suggests otherwise. Interesting to note, her jewelry is not as visible as it was in the second picture, even though the pieces she wears reflect the time period of the room, or studio, seems to be trying to imitate. What does the viewer take from this picture? That Koda Kumi lives in wealth? Or is it merely just a fantastical world she is sitting in that represents her music. Does her music represent wealth? Will the viewer pick up any of the versions of the album to find out? For example, what does the company want the viewer to take, and what does the viewer take from it, from this advertisement that Koda Kumi does here for Vodafone?[18]

First, when I saw this advertisement, I wanted the phone. I mean, how cool does it look? But stepping aside, what does the viewer think? The sparkles are immediately eye catching, and they weave around Koda Kumi’s body, making her look other-worldly. Purple is also a very fun color, but often not used as much as, say, blue or red. The shade of green chosen for the phone against the purple also provides a delightful contrast, especially since the phone comes in several colors. The viewer is drawn to the look of delight on Koda Kumi’s face as she listens to music on her phone. Oh, how fun! The idea that forms for the viewer that the company tries to establish is that Koda Kumi plus music plus sparkles equals fun and that is what cells (I had to put the pun in). The most interesting part of this picture has to be the placement of the earphones of the cell phone. The cords wrap around and the sparkles follow the flow of the cord. The cord also draws your eye to Koda Kumi’s wrist, which draws your attention to her hands that hold the phone. This advertisement isn’t meant to be only about Koda Kumi, but the cell phone in her hand. As an Idol, Koda Kumi has to make do with the changing times, and those that survive in the business are those that adapt to what society wants to see of them.

For the Idols that are seen every day, society has allowed them to visually impress them. They’re presence is sensed in the entertainment world though various means. They are models, singers, and actors, but what truly defines them as Idols is not just talent alone, but the images that they can represent. Females are seen primarily as Idols, and many young girls dream of the fame that the tile brings. There are game shows, much like America Idol, where young girls will compete against each other just to get a chance at a debut. While the Idol career begins with a debut, it can easily end with many factors, like the lack of a certain personality, ability, or attitude. When society looks at Idols, it sees them as glamorous young people, and it appeases the aesthetic nature of a person. Idols were meant not only to appeal to the familial nature, where they are seen as younger sisters or as a member of the family, but also to the more primal sense, where they can be seen in an overly sexualized and still independent way. For an Idol, what many try to show to the world is a sense of idealness to their craft. They technically are the best in the business, after all, that is what it takes to be successful. Female Idols have been around in the business of the Idol longer than men, and through that time, the view of the Idol has evolved as culture and views of Japan changed. Idols evolved to a level of independence that they originally didn’t have, and as they changed, their characters changed to match the feelings of the people in Japanese society.[19] By changing the visual image of a culture, Idols echo the feelings of Japanese society through their entertainment in response to the changing world.

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[1] http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ayumi_hamasaki/cover.html

[2] http://sleetapawang.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!BD09644C5F6E196D!594.entry

[3] http://sleetapawang.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!BD09644C5F6E196D!594.entry

[4] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0038374/bio

[5] http://www.otokichi.com/main/newotokichien/jidoldebuthistoryen.htm

[6] http://www.otokichi.com/main/newotokichien/jidoldebuthistoryen.htm

[7] http://www.otokichi.com/main/newotokichien/jidoldebuthistoryen.htm

[8] http://www.otokichi.com/main/newotokichien/jidoldebuthistoryen.htm

[9] http://www.nt2099.com/INTERVIEWS/bonniepink/bonniepink.pdf

[10] http://desertheart.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/single-bonnie-pink-ring-a-bell/

[11] http://beautyactres.blogspot.com/2008/08/ayaka-komatsu-picture-1.html

[12] http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php?t=334632

[13] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1485777/

[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mew_Azama

[15] http://hippop.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/news-koda-kumi-kingdom-previews-tracklist-and-cover-art/

[16] http://hippop.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/news-koda-kumi-kingdom-previews-tracklist-and-cover-art/

[17] http://hippop.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/news-koda-kumi-kingdom-previews-tracklist-and-cover-art/

[18] http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/vodafone_705t_-_kumi_koda_phone.html

[19] http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ayumi_hamasaki/idols.html

This was a pain to put up with all the images ;;.

Kuwanetto by Mister

Link is: http://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp/artworks/eachwork/kuwanet/


Link here: http://nanayuzulove.blog.so-net.ne.jp/

Latern Slide Assignment

Just uploading my slides before I forget to do it later. Text will follow within a few hours. Enjoy!

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Found here

In this group of slides, they all have a common theme of water. I didn’t want to just choose anything to have slides from, and these just really called out to me. They’re particularly peaceful to look at, and if I were an actual traveler to Japan and a collector of slides, I would probably choose these to add to an album.
The first slide, is, perhaps, one of the more difficult ones for me to analyze. This was actually the last slide I picked, but I decided to put it on here first. This slide has a sense of completeness with the gate. The red of the sky is a very vibrant hue, but not the red of the gate. You’d think the gate would be the more vibrant of the two because it is in the center of the picture. Also, the water around it seems to become a very stormy grayish blue but lightens up the closer you get to shore.

If I were a collector of these slides, I think, aside from the water and the sense of serenity that you get from it, that I would choose this slide for my collection based on the amount of straight lines that provide the slide with a crisper, cleaner feeling. Especially since the shore is such a straight line that complements the sky line, where the gate is a series of lines with very little curve. Even the tree seems to be made up of straight lines, and the only real sense of curve that we get from this slide are from the green on the tree branches and the curves of the stones in the front of the slide.



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Found here

While the second slide I chose seems to contrast and provides the exact opposite picture of a shore line. Although there isn’t any gate, there are people – shown to be small and far away. There are trees though, but unlike the tree of the first slide, these are seen wholly.

The curves are very lovely, and if I were a collector, I’d probably buy the first one for the lines, but this one for the curve. Although the picture is dark, there is still the curve of the shore, and of the land closest and farthest away (although the latter is kind of straight as well – but due to the curvy mountain range and the break-up of the clouds, I consider it to be curvy). There are also more visible ripples in the water, unlike the first one that did have ripples, but there weren’t that noticeable. I found that interesting, especially since the ripples are illuminated by the sun rising (instead of setting like the first slide).

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Found here


The third slide also has the sun rising as well, but there is now a clear division of the water and the sky by land. The first two, I felt, didn’t have this same division that you see here. The land bar is much thicker, and I love the color contrast between the light blue and orange of the sky with the grey/brown of the land, and the grey/brown of the land with the light blue of the water. There are also trees in this slide too, which I liked because they curve in nearly the same direction of the boat’s sail. In fact, I feel like the center rock is more of a fake illusion to the main point of the slide, the sail boat, because I feel that it’s size overwhelms the boat. However, the rock with the trees reminds me greatly of the sailboat – it has a curvy tree, which is bent in the same direction the sailboat’s sail is, and there straight line the tree rests on reminds me of the straight top part of the sailboat. This line causes you to move your eyes over to the curve, where you see the sailboat within it on the water.


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Found here

This slide I chose because I found the clustering of rocks to be very interesting in the water. The only way it differs really from the past two slides are that there are no boats in this one. There are trees, but they are stubby little things. I enjoyed this slide because of the way the rock clusters break up the sky from the water. If I were a collector, I’d probably buy this slide because I view this slide to portray more violence than the others, especially when you see the last slide. The fact that the waves seem to be breaking on the rock shows more energy than the other waves in the previous slides. Also, I find it relatively interesting that with the shadows, the clouds, and the way the light falls, I can’t seem to get a grasp on whether this slide is supposed to be showing a sunset or a sunrise.

With all these past few slides, it’s been easier to grasp the time of day they are supposed to show. See, with the next slide, it is more easily recognizable that the gates/temple does border a sunrise. I chose this slide to conclude my album because, unlike the first one that showed one lone gate, this one shows the temple, with the gate in the background, as if you are finished moving away from the start and are now at the end. Surprisingly, this was the first slide that I chose.

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Found here


What I like about this slide, is that it seems to encompass other themes found within the past slides – the trees, the water, the slight break-up of the horizon, and a boat. What I find interesting is that there aren’t any rocks. The color red now really isn’t as visible, except in the gate in the far back, a huge contrast to the first slide.

A Kabuki Actor's Ukiyo-e

Actor Onoe Matsusuke II, by Utagawa Toyokuni ©Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College. All Rights Reserved.

Sorry about not getting this up sooner. I’ve been knocked off my feet from a stomach bug since Tuesday and the last thing my body wanted to understand was that this was important to get up on the internet. On the plus side, my hair has never been more fabulously smooth, shiny, and silky before.

The first thing that drew me towards this print was the position of the Kabuki actor. Onoe Matsusuke, the actor, is standing in a typical mie pose, which would be done for an exaggerated affect to raise the audience’s participation in the play. Also, the way the artist, Utagawa Toyokuni, has positioned him, it is almost impossible to not focus on anything but the character and the rats at his feet, perhaps because there seems to be three levels to this print, created by the black color.

The first is the hair of the actor, then the sash, and finally, the rats at the feet of Onoe Matsusuke. However, the middle level isn’t quite as prominent as the other two levels, mainly because I think that the artist wanted the main focus of the print to be on the actor’s face and the rats at his feet. I find it interesting that Toyokuni chose to use only three colors in the print. The orange color of Matsusuke’s garment makes the character/actor look more intimidating, adding a sort of visual effect that tricks the eyes in to thinking he is much larger than normal. The fact that he seems to be towering over the rats at his feet adds to that illusion as well.

Speaking of the rats, I was intrigued to find out what they could have symbolized in the play that Matsusuke was acting in, and why Toyokuni chose to do this scene for a print rather than another. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find the name of the Kabuki play, so I searched for rats in Japanese culture and their symbolism. I already had somewhat of an idea of what to expect, since one of my favorite books talks briefly touches the subject of rats in Japanese society, saying how if you managed to kill a rat and brought the tail in you were paid money for it.

I never expected though, that rats were considered lucky. Only the white rats though, as they were considered the messengers of the god of luck in Japan, Daikoku, and representing wealth. Perhaps that is why the character Matsusuke plays is angry at the rats at his feet. Maybe the character has had a bout of bad luck, because the rats at his feet are black. Or, I could just be reading too much in to it and Toyokuni decided to make the rats black because they were black in the play and there wasn’t any symbolic meaning to having them that color. According to an MIT page, Toyokuni once said that his prints were just merely prints. Proof that I may just be making something out of nothing.

Toyokuni, by the way, seems to be a big fanboy of Matsusuke. Of course, I suppose that’s understandable because Onoe Matsusuke did excel in his art – he could quickly change costumes, allowing him to play up to nine characters in any play, and specialized in playing adolescent men as well as wise, older males. Toyokuni has done several prints of him, and all seem to show him in that fierce sort of way. Except for one that I have found, where Matsusuke is acting as an onnagata – even then, Matsusuke still looks like he wants to bite someone’s head off. Perhaps Toyokuni felt that Matsusuke was a fierce individual.

Because there is no deviation of expression in many of Toyokuni’s prints of Matsusuke, I wonder if Toyokuni was painting the character of the play as he saw Matsusuke, or painting Matsusuke as the character – because there is no variation of expression in the prints, I am going to say that Toyokuni may have indeed been painting the characters as he saw Matsusuke. Regardless, though, it is still very plain to see that Toyokuni was a fan of Kabuki and the actors involved with it.

Some background information on Toyokuni is essential to understand why Toyokuni chose to create Kabuki prints. Apparently, Toyokuni grew up as a doll maker’s son, where he was able to draw the faces of actors very well on to the dolls. He then went on to study underneath Utagawa Toyoharu, where he made prints for picture books and calendars.

He got really good at this, and a set of Kabuki actor prints were produced that people really liked and he gained recognition from them. Of course, I am not sure as to how true this is, as the site I was on looked kind of sketchy, but apparently Toyokuni drew women based on Toyoharu’s style, and his ukiyoe woman had a sort of popularity as well. Because of this, when the Kansei reform was passed, Toyokuni had to wear chains for fifty days. The Kansei reform censored any controversial topics, such as pleasure districts and any other related topics.

This print, done by Utagawa Toyoharu, of Onoe Mastusuke II might have been used as a bill to draw the audiences in to one of Matsusuke’s plays. It seems very simple, what with the rats at the character’s feet and the character striking a pose. Other than that, there really isn’t much to this picture and the only bit of color in it is the orange of the man’s garment. There are a lot of lines in the cloth, though, adding a sort of complexity. The character’s feet too, seem to be expressing an emotion coming from the man. If they were far apart, it wouldn’t look as menacing, so the fact that they are pressed together and his posture shows that he is about to conquer over his foes shows a sort of hostility. But, if you cut the rats out of the print – digitally of course!, then the whole pose just seems to be comedic.

Looking at the rats too, some of them seem to be scared, and in the midst of running away. One even looks to be stupefied, staring at the audience with a blank look in its beady little eyes. The fact that there is such detail, as to clothing and to the hair especially of the character, provides an idea that the character is more important than the rats. The character’s hair seems to have a texture to it, carefully done with elaborate carving. Looking at bottom of the garment too, I’m going to assume that it was the way the paper was rubbed against the block that gave it that swirling design.

While the print appears to be simple, it is anything but. If used as a play bill, an individual – maybe a member of a future audience would be able to see what Toyokuni saw when he went and watched the play.

The MIT site, and the other sketchy site about Toyokuni I have included in the links section of my blog. I also hope I broke this up in to small enough paragraphs so it won't kill anyone's eyes. You know, we need something like an LJcut on here >>.