Posted by Dan (24.58.6.220) on October 14, 2004 at 17:27:24:
In Reply to: Re: (finger) Nails in Ukiyo-e posted by Peter Gallagher on October 13, 2004 at 23:23:32:
Hi Peter,
Wow, those were informative links. The custom of growing just the pinky nail longer seems to have survived with some men even today. I have heard an explanation of it having to do with personal hygiene, but there may well be other reasons. The taboos about nail cutting at night or before a journey are also very much alive.
What you said about oiran also seems logical. For example, their high geta, layered kimono and looping way of walking in procession suggest the kind of "burdens of femininity" contemporary scholars speak of. And longer, impractical nails might seem to go with that, and separate them visibly from the woman of the house. But then, the oiran was at most times in the Edo Period a figure of almost regal power and strength, so perhaps we need to read the formulaic "figure-8" walk and height-enhancing "heels" in light of this.
I think too of body discipline in early Japan--such as hair, which was "tamed" in coiffures/top knots and only allowed to flow free for washing--and long nails seem like they might be a little wild/scary in this context. This is the old argument about untamed nature being considered "not natural" in Japan.
But that doesn't match with all the historical facts either apparently. I think this goes to show how varied Japan was in the pre-modern periods, and the difficulty of applying the idea of a single nation or people to Japan before the 20th century. This explains some of the extreme disagreements between early writers on Japan who had visited one part versus writers who had visited another, and the frequent disagreement of the Japanese with what they had generalized about them.
Anyway, I'll keep my eyes peeled for nails!