The first work by Watanabe Seitei I ever encountered was Cloisonné Medallions of Flowers and Birds of the Four Seasons, at the Akasaka Palace’s State Guest House.

Although these enamel plaques were crafted by the cloisonné artist Namikawa Sosuke, they were actually designed by Watanabe Seitei.

While these depictions of birds and plants of the four seasons might first look like Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting), I felt a sense of modernity through its use of colors and realism. It’s perfect for State Guest House.

The Guest House Akasaka Palace is a gorgeous building that looks like the Palace of Versailles, but if you look closely at the interior decor, you’ll notice many Japanese motifs such as golden Japanese armor and Japanese swords. This mix of Japanese and Western culture truly tells the story of Meiji period Japan.

Reminiscent of western art, Seitei’s bird-and-flower paintings differ from the typical works of the genre and give me the feeling that, at almost any moment, these birds of the Meiji era might begin moving. Similarly, with his Bijin-ga, you can sense the influences of Ukiyo-e and the Edo period.

Wearing a five-crested furisode (kimono with long, trailing sleeves), an elegant tortoiseshell hairpin with congratulatory motifs such as a crane, turtle, as well as a tsunokakushi, a traditional Japanese bridal hood; I wonder if she is a bride.

The whiteness of her skin and, above all, the greenness and treasure-patterned maruobi (a one-piece sash) are also well highlighted by this colorful composition.

I also felt that the loose kimono and her small hands peeking through her kimono felt different from the Bijin-ga works of Kaburagi Kiyokata and Uemura Shoen.

Mademoiselle Yulia
Mademoiselle Yulia rose to prominence as a DJ and singer in her teens. In recent years, she has grown widely active as a kimono stylist, model, columnist, awards judge, and has become the face of numerous global campaigns of widely known brands. Yulia graduated from Kyoto University of the Arts in 2020 and styled the visual campaign for the Victoria & Albert Museum’s exhibition, Kimono -Kyoto to Catwalk-.
https://yulia.tokyo/