Nishikiga No. 11 Cop busts bare boobs 2 See the Tokyo version of this story in "The geisha (Œ¼‹W) Onoya Ofuta of Sukiyamachi in Tokyo, on the 18th day of the 6th month of the 5th year of Meiji [18 June 1875], when she returned about one o'clock from watching the Sanja festival, while shouting Ahh, this is unbearable, she threw off her obi and kimono, and was wearing only a scarlet loin cloth that seemed to be burning. Then, in the shade of a whisk fern, seeking the cool breeze on a nearby veranda as she usually did, leaning against a pillar while moving a round fan, she proudly showed her skin, all but saying Hey, look, it's so white." (WW) This is the highly dramatic beginning of a report that ends with Ofuta being scolded by a police officer, while someone takes pity on her and appeals to someone to put a yukata and obi on her. Tsuchiya calls this a "blunder story" (shippaidan), in which a geisha has breached etiquette by stripping down to a loincloth in a place where she could be seen by passersby. She regards the entreaty to dress the woman as an example of human sympathy (ninjo). Notice that the uniform of the officer in this version is white, while in Yoshitoshi's Yubin hochi shinbun version it is black. Tsuchiya speculates that the drawer who drew the Yubin hochi shinbun nishikiga version just used his imagination. (Tsuchiya 1995:110) Tsuchiya 1995:108-110 |
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