A Study on Kiken Buto no Ryakuzu by Yoshu Chikanobu

Abstract

  This study is a consideration of the clothing depicted in Kiken butou no ryakuzu created by Yoshu Chikanobu in 1890. It was concluded that this nishiki-e did not depict a ball at Rokumeikan. At the evening party at Rokumeikan, it was confirmed that the woman was wearing an evening dress. Therefore, it is believed that the nishiki-e depicts a scene of a dance lesson, not an evening ball. There are also some inaccuracies in the depiction of men's clothing, and it can be inferred that they were drawn based on information obtained by Chikanobu in articles such as those found in newspapers. Due to these uncertainties, one must be careful in how the work is treated as a research material in the history of clothing.