You know by now that I love my vintage goodies. My friends do too and I got a terrific and unexpected little gift a few days ago, this vintage book called The Japanese Woman, A Pictorial.
Published in 1957, it is complete with some great images, and some equally compelling text. Published by the Japan Travel Bureau, the book is intended to show a slice of life in the world of Japanese women. And includes text from both the “Western” perspective and that of a Japanese woman.
The book begins with an introduction, part of it written by scholar Edward G. Seidensticker. What a name!
“The Japanese woman is being liberated. She no longer consents to sit int he dark simply because men prefer fair skins, and if she finds the old kimono unhealthy and uncomfortable so says so, and proceeds to dress herself in comfortable Western clothes–and to my mind, she does it with uncommon skill. The Japanese woman, in short is no longer willing to reduce herself to a cipher, even if that is what her lord demands”
Okay, let’s pause for a second and just take a look at the platforms on those Geishas. Dang, girls!
Seidensticker also has some words for the men of Japan.
“We must wish her the best. The last people in the world to recognize the virtues of Japanese women seem to be Japanese men…Japanese men continue to treat their wives like servants, to address the in grunted monosyllables, and to claim for themselves liberties that almost anywhere else in the world would lead either to the police court or to the divorce court. If wives are no longer going to put up with this sort of thing, more power to them.” Heck yeah!
The book starts with the kind of Geisha images we are all primed to expect.
“The geisha is literally a person of pleasing accomplishments and is instructed solely to be that.”
“Geisha girls at a spa can be charming companions for city people seeking temporary relaxation at one of these scenic spots.” Hmmmm.
At the same time, the book also presents “the viewpojnt of a Japanese woman,” by Foumy Saisho. Saisho was also the voice of Madame Tojo on Radio Tokyo.
Saisho says that “unobtrusive usefulness and decorative value were the only things tolerated about the Japanese woman in her relationship to man as a species.” The war, however, and other things was changing the way Japanese woman perceived both themselves and their relationship to men.
“The Japanese woman today in fact is not restricted by anything except by her own self-created psychological fetters…The prewar sense of values still dominates the social mores and threatens too independent girls with the dread of a manless future unless they ‘reform’ and conform to the old ways.
“Youths placed in this predicament often become rebels whose sentiments are of the late best expressed cinematically by the late James Dean or the oversexed charmer you see in the French films.” Japanese women – the new James Dean.
What does Siasho suggest? “The international marriage, it seems to me, is another outlet for the youthful rebels. Ironically, it is to their despised tradition that these rebels own much of their success in landing such marriages, since the foremost qualities that attract Europeans toward the Japanese woman are said to have something to do with her deep-rooted sense of regard and respect toward menfolk.”
Can’t get married in Japan? Snag yourself a European guy.
Of course work is always another option.
This smiling corn woman is part of the Women at Work section.
These woman were making bento to be sold aboard trains, or at station platforms.
This is one of my favorite images. Look at this! 6 trays! Puts my waitressing days to shame.
“The maids of the Japanese inn are hard workers. They carry heavily laden trays to the rooms, and when a dinner party is held in the hall, the experience of balancing many trays in tiers makes them quite good at acrobatics.”
Yeah. I think so.
The JAL flight attendants STILL look this amazing. But they were called stewardesses then.
“Stewardesses of the Japan Air Lines: in both looks and personal accomplishments they are considered above average Japanese women.”
Does that make them flying geishas?
It’s not all work though.
“Women at judo enthusiasts, too. Though their number is negligible as compared to that of the men, about one thousand women practice the art.”
Sometimes, however, it’s all about the child care. And I confess, this is the image I struggle the most to understand.
“Izumeko, a baby basket. The farmers in the north must leave their babies at home unattended during the busy rice season. They cannot afford baby-sitters; hence this device. Snug in special baskets of this sort, babies are in no danger of crawling around and hurting themselves.” Seriously? Is this for real? Anyone know?? I know the baskets exist, but parents off to the fields and leaving the kids? I don’t know about that.
The book is filled with images like these, and will go in my archive of “Books I Can’t Bear To Cut Up.” Would you like to see more? I’m happy to share.
And of course, Happy Friday!
