Shōwa Modan
Shōwa modan or Shōwa Modern (Japanese: 昭和モダン) was a style of visual arts, design, architecture, and music that was a fusion between Japanese and Western styles which emerged in the early Shōwa era during the interwar period.[1]
History
After World War I
As Japan — victorious from
On one hand, styles that combine functionality and beauty, such as
On the other hand, in the early days of Hollywood movies, movies starring comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and actresses such as Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, could be seen as entertainment in movie theaters, and American movie companies were expanding into Japan; Chaplin himself visited Japan during this period. It was also during this period that the technological innovation of cinema progressed, and the transition from silent films to talkie films was made.
During this period when popular culture flourished, classical musicians, pianists, and singers active at the time, such as
Domestic customs
In this way, while new cultures and consumerism of Europe and America were flowing in and being accepted, a culture that independently digested the modern influences unique to the West and Japan had been cultivated, mainly in the large cities in Japan.
Continuing from the Taishō era, Yumeji Takehisa's paintings of bijin and Kasho Takabatake's illustrations of beautiful boys and girls gained immense popularity; and due to Japan's unique high literacy rate, lyrical poems written by Hakushū Kitahara and Yaso Saijō were much read and sung. In addition, general interest magazines such as Kaizō, Kingu, and Bungei Shunjū, and low-priced book series known as Iwanami Bunko and Yen-pon were published, which advanced the popularization of culture.
("Boy Detectives Club") series became extremely popular.
In addition, period drama stars such as Kanjūrō Arashi, Denjirō Ōkōchi, and Tsumasaburō Bandō appeared in movies, while composers such as Ryōichi Hattori, Masao Koga and Shinpei Nakayama, and singers such as Noriko Awaya, Ichirō Fujiyama, Taro Shoji, Dick Mine, etc. were active in the field of music. Japanese Americans such as Kawabata Fumiko, Betty Inada, and Bucky Shirakata were active with authentic jazz and Hawaiian music, another characteristic of this period.
The construction rush of big theaters occurred: Oriental Theater, Nihon Theater, Tokyo Theater, Takarazuka Grand Theater, Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, and Hibiya Movie Theater were built in city centers.[3]
New life
In addition, the lifestyle changed drastically, and from the time of the 1928 Japanese general election (which introduced universal male suffrage) onwards, it became common for some workers to abandon women's kimono (Japanese clothes) and Nihongami (Japanese hair), in favor of Western clothing, cut hair, and hats. In the cities, women were advancing in the society, and professional women such as typists, female bus conductors (known as "bus girls"), and waitresses appeared. Women in cutting-edge Western clothing came to be called "modern girls" (moga) (there was also a male version known as "modern boy" (mobo)).
Houses were built on lands along railway lines developed as commuter transport by railway companies, and people living there would travel to terminal station department stores[a] or by private cars for shopping trips during holidays; it was from the early Shōwa era that middle-class citizens' lives became commonplace.
The main department stores that opened during this period included Hankyu Department Store (the world's first terminal station department store), Mitsukoshi, and Daimaru. Constructions of subways had begun in city centers; the first subway in Japan, the Tokyo Subway (currently the Ginza Line) opened in 1927, followed by the Osaka Municipal Subway (Midōsuji Line) in 1933.
It was also around this time that entrepreneurs returning from the West opened Western-style restaurants which became successful in city centers. The cafés at that time were mainly patronized by single men, and were popular due to their modernity. The Western-fusion menu which is standard today, such as curried rice, omelette rice, and cutlets, were favorites. It was also a time when many food and drink products which are still loved today, such as children's lunch, Morinaga Milk Caramel, Mitsuya Cider, Calpis, instant coffee, and Suntory Whisky, were developed.
In the development along the railway lines mentioned above, the modern
The end of Shōwa Modan
The rise of militarism after the
Afterwards these cultures were dismissed as "soft and luxurious" and "anti-'new system' ", and Shōwa Modan had come to an end, but until the start of the war against Britain and the United States in 1941, Western movies, music, clothes, etc. remained very popular, and even after that, Western food, theater, and baseball were still popular.
See also
Notes
- ^ Meaning department stores built above railway terminals.
References
- ISBN 978-0-295-74924-2.
- S2CID 151348432.
- S2CID 143817212.
Further reading
- Chiaki, Ajioka; Clark, John; Menzies, Jackie; and Mizusawa, Tsutomo. Modern Boy, Modern Girl: Modernity in Japanese Art, 1910-35. ISBN 9780731389001