@Mictorrani 30 March 2020 edited

Oops, she was ugly! How art can influence language.

This picture, a painting by a 17th century Japanese artist ***Hishikawa Moronobu***, is one of the most famous and influential works in Japanese art history. It also contributed to the Japanese language.

Ukiyo-e was the secular art style dominating Japan during the Edo period, which coincides with the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867). Hishikawa Moronobu was not the very first ukiyo-e artist, but he was the first ukiyo-e master and consolidated the genre. He came to set many of the standards on which subsequent ukiyo-e was built, especially within ***bijinga***, which would become one of the two most important subgenres of ukiyo-e (the other was *yakusha-e*, portraits of kabuki actors - see my article ***Satoshi & Sharaku***). Bijinga would later be brought to new heights by such great masters as Harunobu, Utamaro and Kiyonaga. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/satoshi-sharaku-ab032508 Bijinga literally means "picture of beautiful people" but in practice it means beautiful women and girls. As a genre, bijinga continued beyond ukiyo-e, and the term is still sometimes used about art displaying beautiful females. This specific bijinga is titled *"mikaeri-bijin"*, and that can be translated as "beauty looking back". If you look at subsequent Japanese art, you will find that this specific pose is common. In the Japanese language, *mikaeri-bijin* is an established term for a beauty looking back. In modern Japanese, however, an indication of disappointment has been added as well. A *mikaeri-bijin* today, is a girl who looks beautiful from behind, but when she turns around shows to be plain or even ugly. I am sure all of you have experienced this, but have you heard of any other language having a special expression for it? Copyright © 2020 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved. You find all my articles on Japanese Art & Culture here. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/index-over-my-articles-at-read-cash-5f7c1e34#japanology Interested in Japanese culture? Join my community Japanese Art & Cultural History (7c1f). https://read.cash/c/japanese-art-cultural-history-7c1f You find all my writings on Read.Cash, sorted by topic, here. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/index-over-my-articles-at-read-cash-5f7c1e34