Sea Bathing — 海水浴
- Date:
- 1897
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Description
"Sea Bathing" (海水浴, kaisuiyoku) from 1897 depicts a Western-influenced leisure activity — ocean swimming — that was newly fashionable in Meiji Japan following the Westernization of leisure culture. The subject involved female bathers, whose modest bathing dress of the period allowed Shuntei to engage with the nude or semi-nude subject within the acceptable framing of a modern recreational context. Sea bathing at Japanese coastal resorts like Kamakura became a marker of modern, Westernized leisure, and Shuntei's documentation of the practice reflects the Meiji period's fascination with new forms of pleasure.
More Prints by Miyagawa Shuntei
More Nude Prints
Tsuta Hot Springs in Mutsu Province (Mutsu Tsuta onsen), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, First Series (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
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1919
Color woodblock print; oban
Namari Spa, Iwate Prefecture (Iwate ken Namari onsen)
1943
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Autumn at the Arayu Hot Spring, Shiobara
Autumn 1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Arifuku Spa, Iwami, from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series" (Tabi miyage dai sanshu, Iwami Arifuku onsen)
1924
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Frequently Asked Questions
Sea Bathing — 海水浴 was created by Miyagawa Shuntei (宮川春汀) in 1897.
Sea Bathing — 海水浴 depicts nude and seascapes.