Cafe Culture and its Effects

Since 1876, coffee has been enjoyed in Japan. However, it tended to be enjoyed in small family owned restaurants known as kissaten[i]rather than the more Western cafes most would think. For my final project, I decided to look at the history and influence of cafes on the greater Japanese culture.  In this essay, I look at the images of art, photography, and advertisements to further understand the effects the early café culture had on Japan. Beginning in the early 20^th century, cafes were at the forefront of social and political changes in Japan, which still affect society in Japan today.

            The first café in Japan was the Café Printemps located in the Tokyo neighborhood of Ginza in 1911. This café was French inspired and attracted the intellectual elite such as writers, politicians, and artists to taste its wares. The Café Printemps also added to the burgeoning new occupations for young women in Japan. They employed waitresses to serve the customers. After a few years, the Café Lion appeared in Ginza. The Café Lion offered three floors for its customer’s pleasure. The first floor offered a bar with alcoholic beverages, the second with a dining room serviced with geisha, and the third with a Renaissance theme. This café was more popular among the common people rather than the intellectual elite of the city. The Café Lion capitalized on the use of waitresses in their establishment.[i]

In this photo, waitresses from the Café Printemps are shown around a bar. They are still dressed in traditional Japanese clothes with aprons on top. These women who were pioneers of their time were still very Japanese in style and origin. The contrast and combination of a French inspired café and the traditional dressed staff create an interesting image. The picture also shows how tastes were changing with the political culture. The café was opened in the last year of the Meiji era, a time for rapid changes in Japan. These women who would later be known as Taisho girls were beginning to find more occupations outside of the home. Waitresses soon gained their own moniker used to describe the occupation and the type of girl who work the job known as jokyu. The photo shows the early uniforms for the waitresses in the earlier days of cafés. The uniforms are very plain and yet possess elegance. Both of the waitresses have a similar hairstyle, however the only difference between them is the smile on the woman on the left’s face. The woman on the left’s face seems to show an optimism that the other woman is lacking with her frown. The photos give a small glimpse into the world of the early cafés in Japan.

In the year 1922, Ginza had gained about 20 cafes, and  cafes were slowly moving throughout Tokyo. [i]The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed most of Tokyo. In the aftermath of the disaster, new cafes and entertainment centers rose in Tokyo. Ginza became known as popular place to go since the presence of cafes and newly created department stores. Shinjuku, Kanda, Asakusa, and Shibuya all gained cafes in greater numbers after the earthquake. Since more cafes were being opened, more jobs for waitresses began to appear. In 1925, the number of waitresses in Tokyo reached the number: 7,319, while in Osaka the amount reached 4,230. [i]
In Tokyo, certain areas were known for having waitresses of a certain caliber.  Also, along with serving beverages and snacks in the cafés, these women also offered sexual services to their customers. An advertisement for the Café Europe, a woman is depicted looking at a cake. However, in the picture, the shadows seem to show a slightly different scene. The shadow looks like a man with the shadow of a woman looking at him and getting closer as if they are going to kiss. This advertisement shows the two things that could have procured at these cafés. In general, these women were gaining new stature in Japanese society. They began to have disposable income to spend on the new modern products such as Western style clothes, make-up, and music. These women began to be known as modern girl or modan garu in Japanese, which was later, shortened to moga.

The first picture shows the new styles that were being accepted by the moga. The new hairstyles mainly the bob became the main hairstyle of these women. They also began to smoke and drink alcohol in the many cafes and clubs that sprung up around the major cities. Also the use of Western or Western inspired make-up became more popular among women. These women began to choose their own romantic partners instead of having their families choose their suitors. The new clothing styles that were popular among these women strayed from the traditional kimono and they began to wear Western clothing.

In this photograph, three young women are walking down a street together. They are each wearing Western style clothing rather than traditional Japanese. Instead of wearing the constricting kimono these women changed in to loose fitting skirt and pants. These women cast off the beliefs that society set for them, by wearing loose fitting clothing and extending their freedom. In the second photograph, there are two images of the moga. On the left, tow women are standing together looking at a store window. The camaraderie shown in this photograph presents an image of close bond similar to sisterhood. On the right of the photograph, three women are shown walking down a street.  The two on the outside are wearing Western clothing, while the woman in the middle is wearing a kimono. The women on the outside are shown with smiles while the woman in the kimono is shown with a frown. The frowning traditional woman became a motif in early modern art in Japan showing the progress that came with modernism and only the unfortunate memories tied to traditional clothing. The moga were changing the perception of Japanese women through their style choices.

            Since the moga evolved from the café girls, they soon became a cultural phenomenon and were portrayed in many mediums. They were shown in shown in magazine and books. The most influential of the books about moga is Naomi written by Tanizaki Jun’ichiro.

The novel explores the relationship between salary man Jojo and the teenage café waitress Naomi. Jojo meets Naomi when she is fifteen and working in café as waitress, he slowly begins to groom her to be a perfect Western girl. Eventually she overpowers him and gains the control in the relationship. Tanizaki creates the image that Western ideal may have corrupted Naomi into dominating Jojo rather than him keeping the control in the relationship.  (Amazon/Other)

Moga as a cultural phenomenon changed the way art was created. The style of art deco made its way to Japan just as the moga were beginning to emerge in society. This new style of art capitalized on the new looks of modernism to create an interesting visual. The new fonts and layout that came with art deco were widely used in the magazines of the day. The artists of the day began to change their style to showcase the intersection of Japanese subject matter and Western style.

This kimono is covered with many smaller mock magazine covers and advertisements. The combination of the traditional Japanese kimono and art deco design shows how modernism and classic style collided. The close up of the kimono shows one of the images that are on the kimono.

The image is a woman who is drawn in an art deco style. The image looks like a magazine cover who illustrates how important magazine were becoming to society. The kimono is also decorated with sheet music and covers of magazine and sheet music books. The collision of new music, especially jazz, modernism, and moga changed traditional arts. Paintings changed as well with Japanese painters depicting the new changes that they saw around them.

This painting features a woman wearing a kimono while lounging in a Western seat. The painting differs from traditional Japanese paintings because of perspective and style. The style is almost completely Western, while the subject manner is an early modern Japanese woman. The combination of Japanese and Western elements found its heart with the moga the modernism that Japan was experiencing.

The moga soon began to be sexualized by men instead of being seen as women who were liberating themselves. The combination of a freer existence based off of Western culture, the choice of romantic partners, and possibly the sale of erotic services in cafés led to this.

In this picture that was featured on the cover of a songbook, we see a young woman putting on make-up. She is styled with the usual moga looks: bobbed hair, western clothing, and make-up. However, instead of looking powerful like the other photographs, she looks more innocent. The way she is positioned with her head looking back gives a look of demure sexuality. The use of the mirror and the make-up give the image a sense of surprise as if someone approached her when she was dressing. Also, the way her slip’s strap has fallen adds to this sexuality. This picture gives the impression of the moga have a coy sexuality about them rather than seeming empowered to choose their own rights. Many songs were written about the moga and how men began to see them as sexual objects rather than early feminists.

Watasha yoru saku sakaba no hanayo

Akai kuchi beni kinsha no tamoto

Neon raito de ukarete odori
Samete samishii namidabana

Watasha kanashii sakaba no hana yo

Yoru wa otome yo hiruma wa haha yo

Mukashi kakushita namida no tamoto

 Fukete omoi wa tsuyu ja nai

[I am a flower in the bar that blooms at night

With red lipstick and silk kimono sleeves.
I dance merrily under the neon light.

When sober, it's a lonely flower of tears.

I am a sad flower in the bar
A young girl by night and a mother by day.
In the past, I hid my tearful sleeves.
When the night wears on, it’s not the dew that makes them heavy. 

(Jokyu no Uta, Song of the Waitress)[i]

This song illustrates the way these modern women especially waitresses were being sexualize by the men that they were serving in the cafes. The song creates the image of a young woman who shrugs her responsibilities as a mother and begins to go out at night and dance. The woman in the song laments that she used to cry about the state of her life, but she stills does because she cannot stay in the life she wants. The woman also believes that she can only be herself at night when she dances and drinks in the clubs and the bars of the city. The image of the mother turned moga at night possibly is an image that many would find attractive. The belief that women should be good mothers was still ingrained the cultural psyche, while the new emergence of the moga brought the new modern image of a sexually liberated woman to the consciousness. Eventually the end of Taisho era led to the beginning of the Showa era, which began to focus the national attention on militarism. The ideal of the good mother quickly became the main ideal and women were highly pressured to become good wives and mothers and raise strong Japanese children. The cafés stayed open, but the freedom that women experienced was gone.

            Café culture has changed since the earlier days in the Taisho era, and now there are many varieties of cafés. The most influential and popular has the maid and butler cafes. In the maid cafés, men are waited on by women typically dresses in French maid inspired uniforms, while being addressed as ‘master’. These cafes offer the same foods and beverages but they are more expensive because of the atmosphere and are staffed by women in uniforms. 

The maid cafés plays in to both sexual and non-sexual fantasies created by their customers.  The sense of control coupled with the demeanor of the waitresses contributes to the possible fantasy of having control over someone or something. These women may also instill a sense of companionship in their customer that they may not find elsewhere. The maids also help create and sustain the images of video games, manga, and anime that may drive their customers to visit the cafes. The brother to the maid café is the butler café, which mostly appealed to women.  

The butler café plays into the ideals of being served by men, when it typically the other way around. In many cafés, the customers may be addressed as ‘princess’ and treated better than they do on a daily basis. Also, in some butler cafés, the employees may be hired from aboard to give the impression of a foreign prince coming to save or pamper them.[i]Both of these cafes are contemporary establishments that provide an area for others to share their fantasies.

            When I began this project I thought it was going to strictly about the early cafés in Japan, but it opened me up to many problems and progress that came with modernism. Café culture started a short-lived yet influential revolution among the youth in Japan. The modern girls began to find ways to fulfill their lives other than being a mother. The choice to work and the ability to choose romantic partners were revolutionary. They took advantage of the more liberal political atmosphere to show the government that women needed equal rights to men. The cafe culture was more than just pretty girls serving people, it began a new lifestyle for many Japanese women, while changing the way people understand themselves and the people in their country. The contemporary cafes follow in the footsteps laid before them whether they are regular cafes or maid cafe, they all gained from the original cafes. Cafes created a revolution that was needed for the women and Japan, in general, to understand the needs of the modern world. 

[1] Wikipedia, Kissaten

[1] Being Modern in Japan: Culture and Society from the 1910s to the 1930s, editors: Elise Tipton and John Clark, University of Hawaii Press, Pg.  120 -121

[1] Being Modern in Japan Pg. 122

[1] Being Modern in Japan, Pg. 122

[1] Being Modern in Japan, Pg. 133 


[1] http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhBQ7ji0pVP194qcI36ojROut10Q

Cafe Images

Deco Japan (The Japan Society)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwrCEjO2S1s&feature=player_embedded

Japan Society, Deco Japan

Research Update

I have started my research with some introduction information of the earlier days of cafes starting in the 1920s. By starting that early, I will learn about the people who used and worked in cafes. I also have done a little research about modernism and moga, or modern girls of the 1920s. I have found a few links and articles by Elise Tipton who did a lot of research about the cafes. Iwill be looking at the differences between kissaten and cafes. Also I am considering research contemporary manifestations of the cafe.

Links:

http://www.willamette.edu/~rloftus/Tipton.pdf

http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue7/tipton.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_girl

http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/~sadami/what's%20new/paper/int-final.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kissaten

Final Project: The Modern Cafe Culture

My final project is about how modernism and coffee began to change Japan in the 1920's. I am going to research the changes with the rise of western culture and especially with the drink of coffee. The changes in occupations including the change from geisha to cafe girl. The new signs of in the Art Deco style. I'm interested in how modernism in the form of coffee became commonplace in the 1920s. The concept of moga and the changing kissaten culture during the 1920s should generate many visual culture. I am interested in this flourishing period of the modernism based on the west and the how this modernizing leads in to the militarism of the 1930s. The rise of the modern girl similar to the flappers and the times that they lived in will be part of the project. In conclusion, coffee and modernism are my topics for the final project.

Cuteness?

In this picture by AIDA Makoto, he explores the concept of the school girl in his artwork. In this piece, there is a girl standing on the patch of land between two rice paddies. The line in her hairstyle matches the line that she is standing on. She is only seen from behind and dressed in a school uniform which enforces a feeling of a generic school girl. She has a fairly typical hairstyle for a young girl. There is nothing really distinguishing about the field and since the only the back of the girl is seen the picture gives an overall feeling of the generic school girl and generic rice fields. There is a feeling that Aida is commenting how people may see the school girl as a singular object similar to the rice fields.
While in this piece by Takano Aya, she has drawn a paper doll. The four outfits that are paired with the dolls are: a set of underwear, a colorful short dress, a jump suit-like item, and a textured yellow dress. The underwear factors in to the way society may see the young women, while all the others have patterns, color, and texture to differentiate. The jump suit had many designs that looked similar to peace signs, while the colors of the two dresses are different because of the pattern and textures. All the different options show the many ways to present oneself in the modern society.

Animal Song: Dog by Maki Haku

Before I analyze the print, I will provide a bit of information about the artist, Maki Haku. He was born in 1924 in Ibaraki prefecture as Maejima Tadaaki. He is known for distorting characters to make his art. His art can be known as abstract calligraphy. He died in 2000.

This print's title is Animal Song: Dog. The character on the print is the character for bark/howl. Also the title of the piece (戌）is not the usual character of dog, this character is used to describe dog as one of the twelve animals of the zodiac. The color red can be seen a passion, blood, or many other things. The red background looks rough as if it had been scratched. Other than the red sky or the character for bark, the only other image in the print is the orange moon. The character seems to be coming from a unseen dog. The stretch of the character also looks as if it was howled at the moon. The title also ties the character in the print to the idea of dogs. Howling is a song for dogs. This print could have been inspired by a book of poetry entitled "Howling at the Moon" by Sakutarou Hagiwara.

Mitate Meisho: Cherry Blossoms

The artist behind my print was Eisen Keisai. Eisen (1790-1848) was an artist and writer known for his prints of beautiful women. He later gained fame in the Bunsei period (1818-1830) for his okubi-e ("large head pictures"). He collaborated with Hiroshige and wrote the biographies of the Forty-seven Ronin. His prints are usually noticed by how openly sensual they are.

This print titled in Mitate Meisho: Sakura no Tubone (Mitate Meisho: Cherry Blossoms) shows a woman relaxing on either a roof or a set of stairs. She is in a kimono that has layers of blue and pink and she has many things in her hair which gives her the appearance of being important. The stairs seems to be on clouds rather on any building. The woman seems to have her gaze averted from the viewer at something unseen. Her left hand is in a position where is looks as if she is clutching herself in protection. She also has one hair out of place on her forehead in contrast with the rest of the hair which is all contained. Her gaze and body language imply that is she is surprised by something that its unseen to the viewer. In the background, there is a cherry tree in bloom which shows that it is mid-spring. Also in the background is a source of water and on the left are some rolling hills with a few green trees. I think that this print was in the genre of bijin-e (beautiful women). I think this print was to show how she is riding on the clouds in pleasure, very similar to the name of ukiyo-e or the floating world. She appears to be floating on a cloud of pleasure rather than being on the ground.

The focus in this print seems to be the woman since everything else is very far from the viewer. The face of the woman seems rather typical and her gaze does not face the viewer, it is off somewhere not in the print. The woman's focus is very different from the viewers. She seems really detached from the rest of the picture. This picture is not part of a triptych but it seems as if it could. I think this print is a oban rather than a chuban. This print does not come across as realistic because of the woman sitting on the clouds. Also that the clouds are about the same height as the boats and trees.

This print's quality is good, but it has some flaws. The paper seemed stained and faded. The paper is browning or yellowing. Also in the white space there is bad staining and shows the age of the print. The colors seems to stay in the lines instead of spreading out. The lines seem rather sharp, because the lines in her hair are rather significant especially the one strand of hair on her forehead. The colors of blue and pink are definitely brighter but they have become dull from the age of the print.

This print gives the viewer a feeling of relaxation over all. The calm waters of the seas and the pleasant views of the cherry blossoms give an feeling of relaxation. The woman provides some resistance to this thought by her expression and body position. Also she gives a bit of sensuality to the print with the small glimpses of her leg and neck. The woman seems in almost stark contrast with the rest of the print with her many emotions struck by her presence. I think the print was to be made to show the floating world at its essence. It shows a woman among several markers of the natural world, but still float above it. The woman's expression and body language break this original idea. The one question that presents itself with this print is what is she looking that makes her fee as if she has to defend herself?

Japanese Photographs

Source

In this photograph captured by Tamamura Kozaburo depicts the three people dressed as characters for New Year's Day. The middle appears to give the impression of a daruma, a doll to symbolize the wishes for the New Year. The other two figures look masks from theatre or another type of performance. The one on the left looks like a woman's face, while the one on the right almost looks like a tengu or even one of the faces of the white men from earlier in the class. All the figures seem to be trying to portray a story in which motion commences. On the site where I first saw this photograph it remarks that this tradition has faded away and is not seen anymore. I found that interesting to do this tradition because it obviously was larger in the Meiji era and the feeling I got from the photo was this was fun New Year's activity for the young children.

001.

I thought I should begin with this photograph to show how the Japanese lived with nature in a way that has been largely unseen in America anymore. The use of nature and preservation of nature has kept Japan almost in the past.
This photo shows theatre in Japan. Similar to theatre in American or Europe they use elaborate costumes to perform, however instead of make-up they were masks. Also they have men play women's roles almost Shakespearean in style. They tend to keep their sets grounded in minimalism with the technology we see today.
Again the Japanese have taken nature and implemented it in their art. This is the art form of flower arranging. It is apparently all about aesthetics and has a methodically method to it.
040.

I love the detail with the trees and the stone lanterns. They line the walk way and you can almost feel the old world charm engulf you.
119.

And finally these are flags for the Boys' Festival. I found it funny how vivid they are, rather than the darker colors attributed to boys back in the West.

My trip to Japan was to understand the art forms of a country very different from my own. I found the pieces and performances I observed very quaint with a strong sense of nature. I must suggest you go to Japan if you want to see old world charms intertwined with nature in the highest sense. The colors were so vivid while staying true to themselves in every way. I think I may visit again to paint many landscapes in this almost mythical land.

My persona was an artist who visited Japan to become inspired. He went all around the country to understand the various methods of the Japanese. He was constantly going on and on about how old Japan felt and how charming the arts were. His comment on theatre was only after seeing one showing of a Noh performance. I felt that he never dove deep enough to understand the true nature of the arts. His focus was on the background and how he could inspire his own paintings of landscapes rather than understanding the Japanese philosophy or perspective on art.

I found this image interesting for many reasons. I thought that the western style buildings in Kobe were very different from anything else I had seen except from the images of Yokohama. The interesting thing about the image is that it could also be any western style buildings in any Asian city such as Shanghai. However, the tiles on the buildings still preserve that this in Japan rather than anywhere else. It seems to me that the roof tiles are the only things that keep this in Japan rather than it being in another Asian country. This picture gives me the feeling of a western street transplanted in to Japan, but with small changes to the buildings.
In this image, you see a man working on his paper umbrellas and lanterns. His gaze is focused on the words he is writing on the umbrella and he seems to be focused in general in his craft. He is surrounded by umbrellas and lateens on all sides except for his tools which are next to him. I also found it intriguing that the only bright colors are the reds on the lanterns above him. Other an a slightly bright green lateen, all the other colors are rather muted. This image gives the feeling of a quiet focus and intensity to the viewer.

People and Places

In this photograph, two Buddhist priests stand. One of the priests stand in profile, while the other stands at an angle toward the camera. This priest's eyes still do not face the camera, and are averted. They both hold prayer beads. The priest in profile is shown wearing brown colored robes, while the other priest wears green robes. Neither of them wear particularly bright colors most likely because they are religious figures. The only bright color comes from one of the priest's prayer beads. Also only on etch priest's shoes in shown, while the other's robes cover his.
This photo is the village of Hakoni on the lake of Hakoni. In the picture is the main road of the village that is lined with shops and houses. The street goes for a while, almost with the camera facing downhill on the street. With the angle, this shows how large a village Hakoni really is. The signs on the entrances to buildings most likely read what type of stores they are. In the middle of the street, there seems to be four men. Two of those men are carrying a portable temple to a god. While the other two are just observing them. All four seem to be facing the photographer. Also the people in the buildings either are engaged in their own business or facing the photographer.

Source

In this image, which is set in the new international port of Yokohama is the small armies of countries who gained trade entry to Japan. The countries that are shown are: England, France, the Netherlands, Russia, America, and China. China is the only country without a flag or army that is shown. The presence of the armies in the picture gives the thought that these countries were invading Japan, but rather it was more to most likely protect the citizens of the countries. The boats in the foreground also give the impression that more people are coming to Japan to trade for their countries. The difference in the uniforms is rather obvious with the colors of the uniforms.

The words on the picture also tie together the countries and who they are. I am not sure if the words near each corner of the page are the names of the countries or the commander of the brigade. There is also one phase that is constantly around the page. In the white box in the picture, the same is given many times over. Over all I think this an interesting image of the six countries that traded with Japan and helped to make Yokohama an international city.

This is an advertisement for a new hamburger at McDonald's in Japan. This burger, the Texas 2, was a next evolution of McDonald's original, Texas burger. The denotative meaning behind this advertisement was that people can enjoy the taste of America, but unlike any burger before it, specially Texas. By McDonald's expressing that this burger is American, but even better by it being "Texan", it creates an image of exoticism in the Japanese culture. The connotative meaning is that if you enjoy this burger, you will become more American/Western and know what it means to enjoy American but especially "Texan" cuisine.

The Texan 2 burger and it's predecessor were part of a campaign by McDonald's to showcase differing parts of America. Other creations included burgers from, Hawaii, New York, and Idaho. Apart from Idaho, these regions represented areas of the country that the Japanese may have known before. However, the Texan burger introduced Japanese society to a possibly unknown region of the United States. The biggest ingredient added to this burger to differentiate it from other burgers, is the chili. The chili represents the essence of the western United States. Chili was born out of the desperation of adventuring Americans and has become a a nation-wide comfort food. The inclusion of the chili gives new flavors that most Japanese have never experienced before in a form that is accustomed to and pleasing to the eye. The Texas 2 burger gives the customer another but different taste of America, and draws to the consumer closer to thinking "I am more Western now. I've experienced a taste of something only found in America".