The Emperor's New Clothes: Japanese Visuality and Imperial Portrait Photography

Abstract

This article examines the visual culture of late nineteenth-century Japan through portrait photographs, paintings, and prints depicting Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), the country's first constitutional monarch. Four official portrait photographs, produced between 1872 and 1888, promoted his new image as the leader of Japan's modernisation and the divine descendent of the Sun Goddess. Photography embodied the accuracy of vision that was non-existent in Japanese art and was therefore considered perfect for giving authenticity to his dual image. The emperor's photographs also served as the model for numerous popular prints as well as official and unofficial portrait paintings. Thanks to these images, which broke the long-standing taboo about portraying the emperor, Meiji's likeness circulated to people of all walks of life. The last official portrait (1888) became known as goshin'ei (venerable true shadow) and the quintessential icon of the sovereign. It was distributed to public schools to be worshipped by students on special occasions. Although it was a photographic reproduction of a conte crayon drawing, the state treated it as an authentic photograph and required schools to handle it as a sacred object. This series of portraits, which clearly etched the emperor's image in the Japanese mind, reveals the significant transformation of Japanese vision during the late nineteenth century.