Lion dance

Lion dance refers to the shishimai, a Japanese folk and theatrical performance in which a dancer manipulates a carved wooden lion's head with a draped cloth body, performed at New Year and other festivals to dispel misfortune. In Shimura Tatsumi's hands, the subject is most likely treated through a female figure handling or wearing the shishi-gashira, rather than as a documentary view of a street performance — consistent with his career-long preference for the single-figure [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) and for prints in which traditional culture is mediated through a feminine sitter. The shishi mask, with its red-lacquered surface, gilt teeth, and fringe of hair, gives the carver and printer an opportunity for saturated cinnabar reds, deep [sumi](/glossary/sumi) blacks, and selective metallic or mica effects against the kimono ground. Within Shimura's wider output, festival and performance subjects sit alongside hairstyles, seasonal studies, and dance prints as recurring vehicles for examining how women inhabit the costumes and rituals of Japanese tradition.