Greetings!

 

On behalf of the International Japanese Studies Group at Kanagawa University's Minatomirai Campus, in Yokohama, Japan, I am pleased to announce the following lecture:

 

Bodies of Proof: Little People, Yokohama-e, and the Imagined Foreigner

 

Quintana Scherer

Assistant Professor

Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Kanagawa University

 

Wednesday, 21 January 2026 (in person only)
15:30-17:00
Room 6019
Kanagawa University, Minatomirai Campus
Yokohama

 

Abstract

In 1859, a genre of ukiyo-e prints known as yokohama-e appeared almost overnight. Capitalizing on domestic interest in the newly opened foreign settlement in Yokohama, artists and their publishers presented to the eager consumer a fascinating array of images of the new foreigners who had arrived on Japanese shores. These yokohama-e depicted the exotic costumes and unfamiliar customs of the members of the Ansei Five-Power Treaty nations: America, France, Russia, Britain, and Holland. Popular prints showed these foreigners walking the streets of Yokohama, playing games, and even hosting parties.

 

While scholars and collectors have long been interested in how yokohama-e illustrate the Japanese view of Western foreigners who arrived during the 1850s through the 1870s, the relationship between observed reality and printed image was complicated, as artists had few opportunities to observe foreign residents. This paper investigates this complicated relationship through a small group of yokohama-e that depict kobito (literally "little people") who supposedly had arrived in Yokohama from the far-off country of Kobitojima in the early 1860s. Measuring mere centimeters tall, these imagined foreigners hailed from a fictional country. It is easy for the modern viewer to simply dismiss these prints as laughable misunderstandings or flights of fancy on the part of the Edo artist. However, like many other yokohama-e, these prints employed a number of visual strategies to create compelling images, seducing the viewer with their purported realism. Prints of kobito illustrate the ways yokohama-e drew on the broader Edo print culture to create works that could inform and entertain their viewers. These printed images of imagined peoples helped Edo viewers navigate a new world where encounters with foreigners was increasingly becoming a reality.

 

To Attend

 

Preregistration via the link below at least a day in advance for those coming from outside the KU community is greatly appreciated. If you are coming from off campus, please also register as a Guest at the Information counter near the entrance before coming up to the room.

 

ご来場の⽅： 神奈川⼤学関係者は事前登録不要です。学外の⽅は前⽇までに下記のリンクにて事前登録をお願いします。当⽇は1FのInformationカウンターでGuest登録を済ませてから、部屋までお越しください。Zoom でのご参加は事前登録不要です。

 

https://forms.gle/M2cXVzZeVebBzwUc7

 

Inquiries・お問い合わせ

 

James Welker jrwelker@kanagawa-u.ac.jp

 

Future Lectures

This is our final lecture this Japanese academic year. 

 

For details on previous lectures, please also refer to the flier here: http://human.kanagawa-u.ac.jp/kenkyu/symposium/pdf/autmun_2025.pdf

 

Our lectures are generally held three to four times per semester (April-July, September-January) in the second half of the month. Upcoming lectures will be announced one to two weeks in advance. If you would like to be on our direct email list to be sure you do not miss an announcement, please contact James Welker (jrwelker@kanagawa-u.ac.jp).

 

Best regards,

 

James Welker

Kanagawa University

===================================================================
|| James Welker  |  ジェームズ・ウェルカー  (he/him)
|| Professor  |  教授 

|| Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Faculty of Cross-Cultural & Japanese Studies

|| Kanagawa University--Minatomirai Campus

|| 神奈川大学 みなとみらいキャンパス 国際日本学部 国際文化交流学科

|| jrwelker@kanagawa-u.ac.jp  |  jrwelker@me.com

|| Linktree (Professional profiles & social media)

===================================================================

Co-editor of the Global Queer Asias book series (University of Michigan Press)

Kanagawa University International Japanese Studies Talk Series, Autumn-Winter 2025-2026

Selected Publications:

--James Welker, Transfiguring Women in Late Twentieth Century Japan: Feminists, Lesbians, and Girls' Comics Artists and Fans (University of Hawai'i Press, 2024)
--James Welker, ed. Queer Transfigurations: Boys Love Media in Asia (University of Hawai'i Press, 2022)
--James Welker, ed. "Queer(ing)," special issue of Mechademia: Second Arc 13, no. 1 (2020)
--ジェームズ・ウェルカー 編著『BLが開く扉　変容するアジアのセクシュアリティとジェンダー』(青土社  2019)  [James Welker, ed., BL Opening Doors: Transfiguring Sexuality and Gender in Asia (Seidosha, 2019)]