This picture is titled “Picture of Foreigners’ Revelry at the Gankiro in the Miyozaki Quarter of Yokohama.” This picture portrays festivity between foreign men and female Japanese entertainers. It presents the foreigners in the place of a Japanese environment. The festivity takes place in the Miyozaki entertainment quarters. The center of attention is the group of foreign men being entertained by the Japanese entertainers. There are foreign men, or one particular man who has taken off his coat, dancing to the two geisha playing the samisen. The other foreign men sitting on the floor are pampered and animated. There is an abundance of food laid out on the Japanese table, along with some tea and some sake. (The foreigners look a bit tipsy). While these foreign men are enjoying a Japanese-style dinner, there is another group of foreigners in the top right-hand corner mingling and enjoying a Western-style dinner with two geisha in a Japanese fan room. On the right side, there are more foreign men who are observing the entertainment setting going on in the center of the scene. On the very left of this image, there is a majestic artwork of what looks like Mount Fuji.
There are no Japanese men visible in this picture because this print depicts Japanese entertainment to the foreigners. There are mainly geisha who are skilled in entertainment such as music and dance. This image portrays the fascination foreigners find in Japanese entertainment.
I agree completely with your description of the image. But I am confused by your interpretation. Do you mean to say that you think the artist was trying to make a generalization about the foreigners and a commentary on how Japanese and foreigners interact? What would that assumption be?
ReplyDeleteI really like your analysis of the picture. The exchanges between foreigners and Japanese entertainers are constantly depicted, however I'm wondering why there are no other Japanese people other than the entertainers. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteYou covered about every physical detail in the photo and I agree with your description. I would like to know if you think this is a positive, negative, or neutral presentation of foreigners. It is obvious that the ones in this photo have had too much to drink and are starting to act goofy.
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