Abstract

Karen J. Mack from Atomi University (Tokyo) will be presenting a lecture on the women and ‘onnagata’ kabuki actors depicted in Ukiyo-e, identifying them and surveying their sartorial style as fashion leaders.

In addition to fashion catalogues called hinagata-bon, ukiyo-e prints and paintings served as templates of the latest fashions in ‘kosodé’ (kimono) through the depiction of the fashion leaders of the era, including courtesans, geisha, onnagata actors, and famous town beauties. Before the sumptuary laws, designs in embroidery and kanoko-shibori (minute tie-dye) were composed on lush fabrics such as rinzu (figured-weave silk) and satin, but even afterwards, the love of sartorial splendor gave birth to new techniques such as Yūzen dyeing. Towards the end of the Edo period, the severity of the sumptuary laws reissued in the Tenpō era (1830-44) gave rise to the popularity of subtle and understated chic in color and design such as the ‘Edo-komon’ kimono.

Bio note

Karen J Mack, PhD., Full Professor, Atomi Women’s University, Tokyo. Karen Mack has a PhD from KU in Japanese Heian period (794-1185) Buddhist paintings, and her dissertation was on images of the Buddhist deity Fudō Myōō (Acalanātha Vidyārāja). In 2014, she published a translation of the three Amida sutras, The Three Pure Land Sutras: The Principle of Pure Land Buddhism (Jodo Shu Press). However, not only does she now live in Tokyo and wear kimono on a daily basis, she has been working on the history of kimono fashion for over two decades, particularly kimono fashion from the early 17th c. to the early 20th c. as seen in image (ukiyo-e) and text (Japanese literature).

Publications on kimono (selection):

2010, “The Naga-ita Chugata Aizome Dyeing Technique,” Journal of Atomi University Faculty of Literature, vol. 45

2014, “The History of Yukata Fashion: Part I Edo Period,” Journal of Atomi University Faculty of Literature, vol. 49

2017, “Fashion as Metaphor―Kimono as a Barometer: Naomi’s «Image» in Tanizaki’s Chijin no Ai (A Fool’s Love),” Journal of Atomi University Faculty of Literature, vol. 52

2018, “The Function of Kimono in Nagai Kafū’s Bokutō Kidan ― Material Culture Communication: Nostalgia and Time Consciousness Expressed through Kimono and Dress,” Journal of Atomi University Faculty of Literature, vol. 53

2021, “Motifs in Image and Text: Narrative, Imagery, and Symbolism in Ariyoshi Sawako’s Shibazakura (Moss Phlox) Part 1,” Journal of Atomi University Faculty of Literature, vol. 56

Dissertation

2014　The Three Pure Land Sutras: The Principle of Pure Land Buddhism（浄土宗の三部経）Jodo Shu Press

Book

2006　Function and Context of Fudo Imagery from the Ninth to Fourteenth Century in Japan 　（九世紀から一四世紀までの不動明王画像の機能と背景）　　University of Kansas, ProQuest UMI Dissertations

Essays

2013/10　“Visualization Practices as Seen in Art”　「法然上人100年遠忌記念論文集」山喜房佛書林出版

2012/05　「宮中真言院の後七日御修法について」　『論集・東洋日本美術史と現場 ― 見つめる・守る・伝える』竹林舎（出版社）

2012/03　“Reconsidering the Painting of the Blue Fudo”（「青不動」画の再考察）　『豊饒の日本美術　小林忠先生古稀記念会編』藝華書院（出版社）

2010/12　“Landmarks of Esoteric Art in Japan”　（日本の密教美術）　Charles D. Orzech, et. al. eds., Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers

2006/11　“Phenomenon of Invoking Fudo for Pure Land Rebirth in Image and Text” 　（画像と教典に見る不動明王と往生の現象）　　Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 　（南山宗教文化研究所発行）、第33/2号