Until the end of the Edo period the Japanese body symbolized one persons place in society. Aside from the dress one wore, bodies were marked and styled in a way to distinguish oneself from other groups. The male court nobles deemed themselves best attired when they resembled women most closely. Robes and trousers were worn by men and women alike. Outer- and undergarments were frequently exchanged and worn by aristocratic lovers as a sign of intimacy. Nakedness was not seen as indecent. Showing off one’s tattoos, styling one’s hair in a particular way, blackening their teeth and shaving their eyebrows, were ingrained in Japanese culture. 

When people from the West arrived, a different discourse started to appear. To be respected and to be taken seriously, the body must be clothed and fashioned in a modern manner. It was not the West trying to influence the nation in changing. Rather, it was the leaders of Japan that decided to implement new laws on their people, to raise the country’s status in the international sphere. 

01 Artist: Franz Stoedtner (German, 1870-1946) Artwork: 1900 – Portrait of a young Japanese woman in a yukata

02 Artist: Baron Raimund von Stillfried (Austrian, 1839 – 1911) Artwork: ca. 1870 – Man with fishing basket

03 Artist: Baron Raimund von Stillfried (Austrian, 1839 – 1911) Artwork: ca. 1870 – Rear view of a tattooed Japanese man

04 Artist: Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798-1861) Artwork: 1852 – Abalone from Kazusa, Woman with blackened teeth and shaved eyebrow

05 Artist: Keisai Eisen (1790–1848) Artwork: ca. 1825, A Couple Locked in an Embrace