Japonesices

Hashiguchi Goyo, Young Woman in a Summer Kimono, 1920 on Flickr.

Image by © Christie’s Images/CORBIS

Toyohara Kunichika, Japanese Women with Fashionable Western Braided Hairstyles, 1877 on Flickr.

Up-to-date hairstyles, showing the popularity of Western fashions less than a decade after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 opened Japan to Western trade and ideas. —- Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS

Toyohara Kunichika, Japanese Women with Fashionable Western Braided Hairstyles, 1877 on Flickr.

Up-to-date hairstyles, showing the popularity of Western fashions less than a decade after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 opened Japan to Western trade and ideas. —- Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS

Kitagawa Utamaro, Youth and Geisha Dancing as Another Geisha Plays the Shamisen, 1805 on Flickr.

Image by © Philadelphia Museum of Art/CORBIS

Utagawa Toyokuni, The Tea House Beauty, 18th ct on Flickr.

Image by © Brooklyn Museum/Corbis

Yoshitoshi, Geisha at a Flower Festival, 1880 on Flickr.

From a series titled Tokyo jiman junikagetsu, literally “Twelve Months With the Boasts of Tokyo.” Here a geisha admires the huge chrysanthemums at a famous flower festival in the Sendagi district. Tokyo life was punctuated by a regular series of festivals throughout the year. This print depicts the ninth month. The pattern on the geisha’s kimono is of maple leaves and spider webs. —- Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS

Toyohara Chikanobu, 1897 on Flickr.

A young girl plays with a belled cat. She wears elaborate hair ornaments and very richly decorated robes and red under-robe. —- Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS.

Yoshitoshi, Mount Ji Ming Moon, 1886 on Flickr.

June 1886 —- Zi Fang was a hero of the wars that led to the establishment of the Han dynasty in China in the third century B.C. On the night before the battle of Ji Ming Mountain, he played melodies of the province of the opposing army so sweetly that they were demoralized. —- Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS

Yoshitoshi, Pirate Chief, 1869 on Flickr.

A pirate chief called Gonzo stands on his ship under the moon, holding a Western revolver. When this print was made, Japan was in the process of opening its doors to the West after two centuries of self-imposed isolation, and foreign items had an exotic fascination. —- Image by © Asian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS.

Torii Kiyomine, A Girl About to Despatch a Letter, ca. 1807-1810 on Flickr.

Image by © Brooklyn Museum/Corbis