Yuniya (Yuni) Kawamura, professor of Sociology, presented a paper titled “Japanese Tabi and Footwear in Ukiyo-e” at the Association of Dress Historians’ Autumn International Conference. The theme of this year’s conference was Dress and Painting: Clothing and Textiles in Art. Kawamura’s paper was one of 16 papers selected for the conference, out of 125 submissions. The conference took place at the Tower of London, on October 7 and 8.
Tabi and footwear are often neglected and forgotten in a Japanese art historical analysis, and very little research has been done both in English and Japanese. Kawamura’s research makes an attempt to fill that void in Japanese dress history. Tabi are not merely socks that cover one’s feet but have multiple layers of social meanings that can be decoded and deconstructed.
Kawamura, whose research falls under the field of historical sociology and provides sociological analysis based on historical visual and written materials, traces a sociocultural history of tabi and footwear in Japanese Ukiyo-e to investigate how a wearer’s gender, class, and occupation are represented through these items and examines their symbolism. Ukiyo-e, which literally means “pictures of the floating world,” is a genre in Japanese art that was popular between the 17th and 19th centuries during the Tokugawa period (1603–1868), also known as the Edo period. Ukiyo-e are one of the most valuable and reliable historical sources and evidence, and are used to explore people’s lifestyle prior to the introduction of photography. The images provide visual narratives about how men and women dressed at a particular time period.
Kawamura’s paper is available here.