preview

Beauty And Japanese Beauty

Decent Essays

This era of Japan is notable by its visual impact, an area of life that the women had the most influence upon their society at the time and that influence has continued within Japan today. Beauty, in all things, was considered of utmost importance: in language, the written word, the spoken word, the costume, gardens, and in the very essence of the culture. Mono no aware, a term coined in the 19th century by Motoori Norinaga in regards to the Heian concept of beauty, best describes the Heian thoughts of beauty. “Beauty is precious, because it is brief” (Hooker, 1999). The term aware during the Heian era represented sensitivity to things ranging from beauty to sadness, life, love or death. In the letters, diaries, literature and poetry, the fashion stands out and is the most obvious and most scrutinized aspect of Heian beauty personified. While the men, too, had splendid robes to wear, their color options and individuality was constrained by the sumptuary laws and their rank (Bryant, 2004). The women however wore juni-hitoe (called karaginu mo, with formal court layers, and allowed a huge canvas upon which to express their individuality and fashion sense. For the women, colors for robes came to be combined into discreetly named combinations known as irome no kasane. This sensitive layering of colors developed into a full and subtle bloom over the course of 400 years. Very little in the emerging style was Chinese, in fact of the 12 items of clothing usually worn, only two,

Get Access