Bijin-ga

Bijin-ga (美 (び)人 (じん)画 (が), "beautiful person picture") is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre, which predate photography.

Three Beauties of the Present Day by Utamaro, 1793
ArtistKitagawa Utamaro
Year1793

Ukiyo-e is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that was produced in Japan from the 17th century to the 19th century. These woodblock prints depicted beautiful women; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flowers and animals and erotica. The prints were very popular amongst the Japanese merchants and the middle class of the time.

Nearly all ukiyo-e artists produced bijin-ga, it being one of the central themes of the genre. However, a few, including Utamaro, Suzuki Harunobu, Itō Shinsui, Toyohara Chikanobu, Uemura Shōen and Torii Kiyonaga, have been described as the greatest innovators and masters of the form.

  • Bijin-ga
  • Bijin-ga by Keisai Eisen (1790–1848)
  • Woman Visiting the Shrine in the Night by Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770)
  • Shin Bijin, Shin Bijin series, No. 12 by Yōshū Chikanobu (1838–1912)
  • 100 Aspects of the Moon by Yoshitoshi (1839–1892)
  • Two Women Standing from series "Tosai Yuri Bijin Awase", by Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815)
  • Woman with cherry flowers by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
  • A Girl About to Despatch a Letter, by Torii Kiyomine (1786–1868)
  • The Courtesan Someyama of the Matsubaya house, from the series: Contest of Beauties in the Gay Quarters, by Eishosai Choki - active from about 1786 to 1808.
  • Murasaki Shikibu, from the series "Mirror of Women, Ancient and Modern" (古今姫鏡), by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892)
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See also

Further reading
  • Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2012). Suzuki Harunobu: 100 Beauties. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B00AC2NB8Y
  • Hamanaka, Shinji. Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties. Hotei Publishing 2000. ISBN 90-74822-20-7
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