Aki no Ikoi
1920（大正９）年／Folding screen -Byoubu- / Paper
The woman sitting on the bench surrounded by the red and yellow leaves of the plane tree is gazing away. Her appearance of putting a Shingen bukuro (a travel pack) on the bench and holding a blue European style umbrella expresses the mix of both Japanese and Western styles that Yumeji liked. It also expresses the gorgeousness and beauty of the Taisho era. On the other hand, there is also a hint of the painful reality of common people’s lives as a result of events such as the komesodo (Rice Riots) in the Taisho era when this work was done. Looking at the work carefully, the woman is wearing geta (Japanese wooden clogs) without tabi (traditional Japanese-style socks with pouches that separate the big toe from the four other toes) and a simple striped cotton kimono. She might be looking for a job after having arrived in Tokyo from the country, but she is somehow at a loss. Her image is lovely, but we can feel the emptiness and loneliness of her life of struggle as a poor person. It is one of the fascinating aspects of Yemeni’s Bijin-ga.
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