Thanks for this! Ever since I was a kid, I've found the (rare) Japanese historical movie where the women had blackened teeth both fascinating and terrifying. I've often wondered that historical dramas skip the blackened teeth, although I guess it would give the makeup people a lot of problems to blacken all their female actors' teeth, and the actors wouldn't like that part of the job, either. But it's so effective at reminding us that those people were so different from us in terms of how they thought about the body, and I imagine it also must have served to set noble women apart from the masses in a very dramatic way.
This is the kind of information that I really want to pick apart and discuss, but it's hard to find English-language resources that aren't written by men, too! That always annoys me! I grew up doing classical Japanese dance, and wearing kimono "properly" is such a pain in the butt. I feel like a female perspective is really helpful, because it seems easier to imagine just what women in the past endured in the name of beauty.
I am so happy to hear from you, Maya!!! I agree, for whatever reason, the blackened teeth frightens me... it is fascinating and terrifying, like you said! After I wrote this post, I actually felt somewhat bothered by the photo at the top for a couple of days. The teeth blackening was apparently very protective of the teeth, like putting lacquer on wood--but still.... I don't know. We are just so accustomed to white teeth, I guess.
And kimono is very hard to wear. In my tea ceremony lessons none of the women under 40 could wear one on their own. In our town we had kimono days with 普段着 and even for the casual daily kimono, my friends and I had to be dressed... My tea teacher meanwhile wore kimono everyday and wore it flawlessly. It is hard to imagine anyone finds it comfortable or easy and yet people must have --my sensei loved wearing her kimono for dress up and daily. She said she felt better in them. Must keep you mindful of posture and gracefulness maybe.
Wow! You look amazing! You even put your hair up, nice! The only photos I have of myself in a kimono are from when I was kid! One of my girls just came back from a month in Japan and in her photos I saw all these tourists wearing kimonos in 90-degree Kyoto weather. UGH! Not for me, thanks! But one of these days I'll get brave enough to put on one of my old ones and remember how it feels to put on those layers, tie those strings, cinch that obi, etc. I think there is something unmistakable about remembering how it felt to wear something? Before I try to write that kind of scene, I think I need to try to recollect it!
Thanks so much for sharing that link, is that your son on 7-5-3?
Yes! That was a happy day. And I did not want to wear my hair like that but the ladies at the salon insisted. Kimono are so beautiful and I felt graceful in them but it is not easy--and I didn't ever dress myseld either!
Itv really is! It is hard to gain a critical distance to one's own culture, isn't it? I have thought of the exhibition so many times over the years since I saw it. Thank you for commenting--and reading this one!! xoxo
And so the body is imagined as other than the woman's own. You know Kissing the Mask. So the real woman must be mask to aspects of herself that have come to serve other muses. Which brings up -- albeit tangentially -- how is that I only recently started thinking of geisha as the muse embodied because of, in service to, and making the unattainable real -- and thus more unattainable for him -- in drawing on man's imaginative horizons. Or something like that. . . It gets complicated! Anyway, wonderful piece to start the conversation, Leanne!
Thanks for this! Ever since I was a kid, I've found the (rare) Japanese historical movie where the women had blackened teeth both fascinating and terrifying. I've often wondered that historical dramas skip the blackened teeth, although I guess it would give the makeup people a lot of problems to blacken all their female actors' teeth, and the actors wouldn't like that part of the job, either. But it's so effective at reminding us that those people were so different from us in terms of how they thought about the body, and I imagine it also must have served to set noble women apart from the masses in a very dramatic way.
This is the kind of information that I really want to pick apart and discuss, but it's hard to find English-language resources that aren't written by men, too! That always annoys me! I grew up doing classical Japanese dance, and wearing kimono "properly" is such a pain in the butt. I feel like a female perspective is really helpful, because it seems easier to imagine just what women in the past endured in the name of beauty.
I am so happy to hear from you, Maya!!! I agree, for whatever reason, the blackened teeth frightens me... it is fascinating and terrifying, like you said! After I wrote this post, I actually felt somewhat bothered by the photo at the top for a couple of days. The teeth blackening was apparently very protective of the teeth, like putting lacquer on wood--but still.... I don't know. We are just so accustomed to white teeth, I guess.
And kimono is very hard to wear. In my tea ceremony lessons none of the women under 40 could wear one on their own. In our town we had kimono days with 普段着 and even for the casual daily kimono, my friends and I had to be dressed... My tea teacher meanwhile wore kimono everyday and wore it flawlessly. It is hard to imagine anyone finds it comfortable or easy and yet people must have --my sensei loved wearing her kimono for dress up and daily. She said she felt better in them. Must keep you mindful of posture and gracefulness maybe.
Here are some pics of me in casual kimono, as well as one in formal kimono ... time has flown. these were more than 15 years ago... https://www.dreaminginjapanese.com/dreaming.html
Wow! You look amazing! You even put your hair up, nice! The only photos I have of myself in a kimono are from when I was kid! One of my girls just came back from a month in Japan and in her photos I saw all these tourists wearing kimonos in 90-degree Kyoto weather. UGH! Not for me, thanks! But one of these days I'll get brave enough to put on one of my old ones and remember how it feels to put on those layers, tie those strings, cinch that obi, etc. I think there is something unmistakable about remembering how it felt to wear something? Before I try to write that kind of scene, I think I need to try to recollect it!
Thanks so much for sharing that link, is that your son on 7-5-3?
Yes! That was a happy day. And I did not want to wear my hair like that but the ladies at the salon insisted. Kimono are so beautiful and I felt graceful in them but it is not easy--and I didn't ever dress myseld either!
I love this post. So interesting the way we judge other cultures/times when the same craziness about women's bodies are playing out right here and ow.
Itv really is! It is hard to gain a critical distance to one's own culture, isn't it? I have thought of the exhibition so many times over the years since I saw it. Thank you for commenting--and reading this one!! xoxo
And so the body is imagined as other than the woman's own. You know Kissing the Mask. So the real woman must be mask to aspects of herself that have come to serve other muses. Which brings up -- albeit tangentially -- how is that I only recently started thinking of geisha as the muse embodied because of, in service to, and making the unattainable real -- and thus more unattainable for him -- in drawing on man's imaginative horizons. Or something like that. . . It gets complicated! Anyway, wonderful piece to start the conversation, Leanne!