Sportswear in Tale of the Genji

While we have Lycra, these young princess of the Heian period had plenty of sleeve and a lot of practise, one might suppose from this tableau, of not treading on the hem with ones toes. The Costume Museum in Kyoto takes Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of the Genjii as its device of exposition, giving the scenes a charming, one might say novel, cohesion.
The museum is a little hard to find but the post cards alone would be worth the feeling of dwindling certainty  I experienced  as the little 3rd floor museum stubbornly did not appear for quite a while.  The oddness of its scale  and the way the display is raised up to nearly chest height, renders the viewer at eye level with characters, who are so involved in their business that they don't seem to notice you at all.

Share this:

,

CONVERSATION