Sprucing Up — Neru no Kanshoku

"Sprucing Up — Neru no Kanshoku" captures the private act of a woman attending to her appearance — fixing her hair, adjusting her kimono, checking her face — in the moments before presenting herself to the world. The Japanese title "Neru no Kanshoku" suggests the feeling of smoothing, of arranging, of the physical pleasure of getting things in order. Yumeji was deeply interested in these intimate preparations, the moments when a woman was still herself before becoming the social self she would perform for others. The act of sprucing up is also an act of self-creation.