Seeking the Real in the False - Humor and Aesthetics of Kokeshi Dolls (November 1970)

Seeking the Real in the False - Humor and Aesthetics of Kokeshi Dolls (November 1970)

Tokyo in 1970 - a time when rapid economic growth was at its peak, the city was covered in asphalt and neon lights, and words like "hippie," "pop art," and "mode" permeated daily life in Ginza and Shinjuku. While the city was intoxicated with the afterglow of the World Expo, freedom of expression and individual style were exploding and expanding.

Against this backdrop, the cross-dresser "Kokeshi" was lightly leaping over the conventional framework of sexuality. She studied design and drawing at Nagasawa Bushi's mode seminar, and laughingly says herself that she was "the most masculine" among her peers, an attitude that was a stylish statement of identity, a mixture of self-deprecation and pride. When he showed up at the party in a see-through white suit, he said, "Oh my God, is that Elizabeth Taylor behind the mirror? --is a famous scene in which the humor of cross-dressing and the aesthetics of self-direction are brilliantly displayed.

The "Yanagi school" and "Carrousel school" classifications that appear in this conversation also indicate that the cross-dressing culture had already become a faction. In particular, "Yanagi" refers to a long-established store in Ginza, and the kokeshi style that originated there was not just a costume, but an "act of expression" itself, reflecting the space and aesthetic of the city.

At the same time, Yukio Mishima committed suicide in Ichigaya, Ryo Takenaka was passionate about folk songs, and avant-garde artist Tadanori Yokoo appeared in the media as a hippie. In other words, this was an era of urban transcendence in which old values such as "authenticity" and "masculinity" were cracking, and art and sex, politics and games were crossing over.

The laughter, the way kokeshi dolls were worn, and the sense of beauty were the "real image within an imaginary image" that emerged in the midst of this era, and behind the surface glitz and glamor, there was a serious game in which a person was searching for his own form. When she is not at the restaurant, it is just a snack bar, but when she is there, it becomes lively like a group" is the very transformation of the space brought about by her presence.

This paper depicts the "deviance" of cross-dressing not as a form of teasing, but as a part of urban culture, and thus presents a diverse "real image" of Tokyo in 1970. It is a rare testimony of the determination to stare reality in the face and express oneself while clad in fictional clothing, and it is still fresh even after reading it today.