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sechan19In the Kashiwagi chapter of The Tale of Genji, the son of Genji's good friend catches a glimpse of Genji's wife--the Third Princess--when she raises her screen to chase after a stray kitten. This glimpse of the young girl is more than the young man can stand, and he begins an illicit (and, it must be noted, forced) affair with her.
The image of the girl with a kitten has since been regarded as a classic motif of sexual promise in Japanese art. Recently, I came across a number of fantastic 1930s examples from shin hanga artists Takahashi Hiroaki [Shôtei] (1871-1945) and Ishikawa Toraji (1875-1964).
Takahashi, Woman and Kitten, 1930.
Ishikawa, Black Cat, 1934.
Ishikawa, Leisure Time, 1934.
Ishikawa, Playing, 1936.
The image of the girl with a kitten has since been regarded as a classic motif of sexual promise in Japanese art. Recently, I came across a number of fantastic 1930s examples from shin hanga artists Takahashi Hiroaki [Shôtei] (1871-1945) and Ishikawa Toraji (1875-1964).
Takahashi, Woman and Kitten, 1930.
Ishikawa, Black Cat, 1934.
Ishikawa, Leisure Time, 1934.
Ishikawa, Playing, 1936.
