A print from the series "Tokyo Pleasures" depicting women in Western dress — one of the documentary images of Meiji Japan's sartorial transformation, in which certain categories of urban women (those associated with the court, the diplomatic community, or progressive institutions) adopted European-style clothing as a marker of modernity. The sight of Japanese women in Western dress was sufficiently novel to constitute one of Tokyo's "pleasures" or attractions, and Chikanobu's documentation of the phenomenon captures both the specific garments and the social world that produced them.
Meiji period, dated October 10, 1896
Woodblock print in "ōban" format; ink and color on paper
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Tokyo Pleasures: Women in Western Dress was created by Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延).
Tokyo Pleasures: Women in Western Dress depicts urban scenes, bijin-ga, and daily life, set at Tokyo.