# Taishō Roman & Lyrical Illustration

> The lyrical illustration (jojōga) of late-Meiji to early-Shōwa Japan, led by Takehisa Yumeji: willowy, large-eyed women in kimono drawn with an Art Nouveau contour, set among camellias and kimono patterns and lettered by hand. Made for sheet-music covers, girls' magazines, postcards and paper goods, it is intimate and melancholic rather than ornamental, and its eyes and moods passed through Nakahara Jun'ichi into shōjo manga.

- Period: 1910–1940
- Where: East Asia
- Origin: Tokyo, Japan: girls' and women's magazines, the Senow sheet-music series and Takehisa Yumeji's Minatoya shop (1914–16)
- Branch: Craft & organic
- Also known as: Taishō romanticism, Taishō Roman (大正ロマン), Jojōga (lyrical pictures), Yumeji-style beauties
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/taisho-roman/

## How it works

- Make one elongated, willowy figure with a drooping head and oversized, melancholy eyes the whole subject.
- Contour the figure with a flowing, Art Nouveau-derived line and fill kimono and ground with flat chiyogami-style pattern repeats.
- Keep colour soft and muted on cream paper, with a single accent of camellia red.
- Hand-letter titles into the picture, mixing kanji, kana and Latin script, vertically and horizontally.
- Mix Japanese dress with modern Western props (parasols, boater hats, Western dresses) to stage a wistful modern girl.
- Design for small, intimate formats: sheet-music and magazine covers, postcards, envelopes and textiles.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (characteristic)
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (occasional)
- [Organic flow](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/organic-flow/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (occasional)
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (occasional)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Pastel](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pastel/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (defining)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)
- [Whiplash line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/whiplash-line/) (occasional)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (occasional)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (characteristic)
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (characteristic)
- [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (occasional)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (defining)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (occasional)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (occasional)

Avoids: Horror vacui, Abundant decoration, Straight photography, Angular & zigzag, Geometric primitives, Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Agitational & persuasive

Palette: #f1e8d5, #d98b8f, #3b4a6b, #c9a548, #b8333a, #9bb39a

Typefaces: Hand-drawn title lettering mixing kanji, kana and Latin (Yumeji's Senow covers), Brush-written kana for lyric poems, Art Nouveau-style Latin display lettering

Known for: Takehisa Yumeji (1884–1934), over 280 covers for Senow sheet music (1916–29); Minatoya, Yumeji and Tamaki's Tokyo shop selling his woodblock prints and paper goods (1914–16); Takabatake Kashō (1888–1966), covers and illustrations for Shōjo gahō, Shōnen kurabu and Fujin sekai; Fukiya Kōji (1898–1979), illustrations for Yoshiya Nobuko's Hana monogatari; Shōjo gahō magazine (1912–42); Nakahara Jun'ichi, covers and illustrations for Shōjo no tomo (1932–40)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Art Nouveau](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-nouveau.md) (1890–1910)
- Influenced by: [Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ukiyo-e.md) (1670–1900)
- Influenced by: [Japonisme](https://stylogeny.com/styles/japonisme.md) (1860–1910)
- Led to: [Kawaii Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kawaii.md) (1970–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Push Pin Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/push-pin.md) (1954–1980), 65% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Santiniketan & Bengal School Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/santiniketan-graphics.md) (1905–1954), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cairo-beirut-book-design.md) (1952–1990), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Belle Époque Lithographic Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/belle-epoque-poster.md) (1866–1914), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Modern Calligraphy and Brush Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/modern-calligraphy.md) (2005–present), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Glasgow Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/glasgow-style.md) (1890–1914), 58% alike

## Real works

- [Shōjo gahō, vol. 17 no. 12 (December 1928), cover: Shiwasu no kaze (December Wind)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shojo_gaho_1928_17_12.png): Takabatake Kashō; published by Tōkyōsha, December 1928, Takabatake Kashō Taishō Roman Museum, via the Nichibun database of images in modern Japanese popular magazines (Wikimedia Commons)
- [Kageki Tsubaki-hime (La Traviata), Senow Gakufu no. 53, cover](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TakehisaYumeji-1917-Senowo-La_Traviata.png): Takehisa Yumeji; published by Senow Gakufu, Tokyo, 1917, Yumeji Art Museum, Okayama (scan from Yumeji Kyōdo Bijutsukan shozō Takehisa Yumeji meihin 100-sen, Tōhō Shuppan, 2007, via Wikimedia Commons)
- [Kurete yuku (Getting Dark), Senow Gakufu no. 165, cover](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TakehisaYumeji-1290-Senowo-Getting_Dark.png): Takehisa Yumeji; published by Senow Gakufu, Tokyo, 1920, Wikimedia Commons (scan from the exhibition catalogue Taishō Roman, Shōwa Modern, Ibaraki Prefectural Tenshin Memorial Museum of Art, Izura, 2009)

## Sources

- https://pages.uoregon.edu/jsmacollections/home/artists/takehisa-yumeji-1884-1934.html (Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art)
- https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/en/db/category/kasho/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Djo_Gah%C5%8D
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/大正ロマン

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Taishō Roman & Lyrical Illustration”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/taisho-roman/