About My Research:
My research question is how do Japanese women form their sense of Japan-ness through photography and How does it create a sense of empowerment? This relates to the core question of “What is Japan-ness” because in thinking about the question I was not sure there was one correct answer. This is from an outsider’s perspective, but it depends entirely on the Japanese person and their life experiences. For example, a queer Japanese woman would have a very different idea as to what Japan-ness is vs a cis-gendered and heterosexual Japanese woman. I think this makes sense since they both share the identity of a Japanese person, but they express it differently. I think that the photographers of choice breaking away from the norm and reclaiming their bodies as their own is a form of Japan-ness in itself. I think Japan-ness is fluid mostly because humans are fluid. We see it in the different periods of Japan’s history. The Jomon & Yayoi period had a very different idea of what Japan-ness was vs the Edo period. The idea is forever changing depending on which Japanese identities it comes into contact with. As for my interest, I like combating stereotypes with art. There are a lot of things people assume about me as a black non-binary individual. Their perceptions change drastically when they hear me speak. I mostly work with the idea that there are many different ways to exist. There is not one set way of being black and I don’t think there is one set way of being Japanese or expressing one’s Japan-ness. A lot of my work deals with perception and using that external gaze to make something of my own. For example, there is this stereotype that “black women speak in a certain way that seems less intelligent.” There is no way you can gauge a person’s intelligence based on the dialect they use. So I would create a piece highlighting this stereotype to debunk it essentially. I think Sayaka Maruyama, Tokyo Rumado, and Yayoi Kusama all do something similar. They take these stereotypes and create art that completely goes against them. Sayaka shows body positivity by covering herself in flowers. Tokyo Rumando uses mirrors to show two parts of her the sensual parts and the brilliant side of her. Yayoi Kusama expresses her lack of sexual desire through her art showing that women do not exist solely for the sexual pleasure of men. Though these artists are not based in Japan, I think that makes it more powerful that they are combating the external and male gaze globally. Another way that these works can be read is by reclaiming the stereotypes these women are taking their power back from the systems in place that perceive them this way. The work is ironic in a way. All of these artists are in control of their work, and they use themselves as models. I think it is to heal a part of them as well.
About The Photos:
I chose these 5 images because I wanted to highlight the work of the artists. For compare and contrast sake, I can see why it would be beneficial to include images in my publication that show a male gaze-targeted photo, but I feel that would take away from the main point of my research: highlighting Japanese women artists. I chose Flowers Of Heaven, 2019, Tokyo Rumando Orphee no. i 3, 2014 Gelatin Silverprint, Orphee no. d4, 2014 Gelatin silver print, Orphee no. a1, 2014 Gelatin silver print and Aggregation: One Thousand Boats, 1963 because each piece has an element of the male & external gaze. I will start by defining the two. The male gaze is exactly what it sounds like. Usually about media or something that is targeted for what society thinks cis-gendered heterosexual men “should” enjoy. This includes nudity usually of women, mentions of intercourse, and men in power usually doing more harm than good. The male gaze is rooted in patriarchy and ultimately oppresses anyone who is not a man. This ties into the external gaze. In the context of Japan, the external gaze is the view of anyone who is not a Japanese individual looking in on Japanese culture, lifestyle, etc. For this class specifically, I think that the external gaze and the male gaze overlap since we live in a patriarchal society with the Western world having a large influence on the rest of the world. I know some individuals would be quick to say that they have no correlation, but after World War 2 there was an increase in documentation of Japanese prostitutes. Furthering the stereotypes of Japanese women as “submissive” and “soft”. This idea spread to the rest of the world creating a plethora of problems for Japanese women all over the world. Getting back to the photos, the three pieces I mentioned earlier each have elements of what would be considered the male or external gaze since the one behind the camera is the artists themselves I think they convey a message of reclaiming that stereotype. Showing the world that they are untouchable or so much more than just their bodies.
“Flowers of Heaven, 2019”
tokyo rumando
orphee no. i3, 2014
Gelatin silver print
tokyo rumando
orphee no. d4, 2014
Gelatin silver print
tokyo rumando
orphee no. a1, 2014Gelatin silver print
Yoshimoto, Midori. Into Performance: Japanese Women Artists in New York. Rutgers University Press, 2005. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hjd48. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.
Text:
Evolution of The Feminist Movement in Japan by Machiko Matsui and Rethinking Japanese Feminism and the Lessons of Ūman Ribu by Setsu Shigematsu. The articles at their core both argue that feminism in itself needs to be inclusive of all women and address the internalized patriarchal ideas that affect it. Shigematsu refers to this as critical transitional feminism. Getting a perspective from a Japanese woman author is crucial to my research because it comes from someone who grew up in Japan and has first-hand experience with how the patriarchy affects Japanese women. These two texts can give insight into what feminism is starting to look like in Japan and how the external gaze from the West that I mentioned earlier plays a role in how things need to change.
Conclusion:
In the future, I would like to look more into Japanese feminism and explore how the women of Japan create their sense of Japan-ness through all forms of media. I think it is really important, especially for people who are not Japanese or a woman. I think it is interesting to see how things transform. Hopefully for the better.
Bibliography
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4316048?seq=1
https://www.sayakamaruyama.com/
