中西キク子（東京）

About this photo

The name under the photo reads "Nakanishi Kikuko (Tokyo)." She wears a kimono with fine vertical stripes and faces almost straight toward the camera. Her hair is puffed out on both sides and gathered at the back, with no hair ornaments. From the photo album Nihon Bijincho (Album of Japanese Beauties), published in 1908 (Meiji 41).

In the early Edo period, striped (shima) kimono were mostly horizontal stripes, and almost only yujo (courtesans) wore vertical stripes. By the middle of the period, cotton had become widely available, vertically striped cloth was woven in large amounts in Japan, and it was eagerly taken up in the clothing of townspeople. In time, striped kimono came to be seen as a symbol of iki, a kind of understated chic.

Some stripes were named after foreign places, such as santomejima and bengarajima. Among them, tozan was especially prized among townspeople.

Glossary