Settai Komura—even if we don't know his name, we have encountered his "beauty."

Given his artist's name and refined style, Komura Settai (1887-1940) might sometimes be mistaken for an Edo period painter. However, he was an artist who vibrantly lived through the tumultuous Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras. The designs he left behind, even a century later, remain integrated into our daily lives. Having navigated the turbulent Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods, he was an "illustrator" who sublimated Edo-era aesthetics into a modern style, a "stage designer" beloved by renowned actors, and simultaneously a "peerless creator" who defined the aesthetics of brands that continue to this day.

His deep involvement with Shiseido symbolizes his true value. Shinzo Fukuhara, Shiseido's first president, invited Settai to join the design department to infuse the company's designs with a unique Japanese aesthetic of integrity. The bottle design for the perfume "Kiku," released in 1921, can be considered a masterpiece. A serene bottle, stripped of superfluous ornamentation, features a label with a chrysanthemum motif, symbolizing Japan. Its sophisticated appearance was a pioneering work that guided Eastern beauty into modernity. Of particular note is the "Shiseido typeface," which is still used today in Shiseido's products and promotional materials. The emotional lettering, known as "Settai-moji," drawn by Settai in the design department 100 years ago, became its unwavering origin. Settai, who transcended the boundaries of a single company and breathed the soul of elegance into Japanese graphic design, allows us to understand the true nature of the "beauty" we unconsciously encounter in our daily lives.

The Pinnacle of Book Design: Embodying the "Iki" of the Era

In the history of modern Japanese book design, the fated resonance between Izumi Kyoka and Komura Settai is comparable to the golden partnership forged by Natsume Soseki and Hashiguchi Goyo through masterpieces such as "I Am a Cat." In the literary world of the time, naturalism, which depicted reality as it was, was on the rise, and in response, "photographic binding," which emphasized inexpensive mass production, was becoming mainstream. In the midst of this current, where text was consumed en masse as mere symbols, the two defiantly resisted the trend, pursuing a unique aesthetic that elevated the book itself to a "total art."

Settai, with his delicate brushwork, interpreted Kyoka's literary world of the grotesque and fantastic, elevating it to an unparalleled beauty of book design. Generous negative space, refined line drawings, and serene color palettes. This unique style created by Settai later came to be known as "Settai-cho" and remains a standard in Japanese design. What he depicted was not merely an illustration, but the very "iki" (chic aesthetic) of the era.

"Yuri-shu" (Collection of the Pleasure Quarters) — Book Binding and Endpaper Illustrations by Komura Settai Publisher: Shunyodo | Publication Date: November 1916 (First Edition)

The cover features gold-leaf typography floating on a deep crimson title slip. The charm of the green arabesque patterns combined with the patina of a century of aging lends the book the dignified presence of a true art piece. Settai’s illustrations grace both the front and back endpapers. The front features the "back hair" of a woman gazing up at a crescent moon, and a "red folding fan" left beyond a sliding fusuma door. The sharp perspective drawn by the edges of the tatami mats infuses the composition with overwhelming depth and drama. The back endpaper features the silhouette of a figure clad in a black kimono standing against the neat, modern grid of a shoji screen's lattice. The trimming of the tiled roofs glimpsed through the geometric openings and the vibrant "red" eye-catch of the hair ornament are placed with meticulous calculation.

　

The Lineage of Depicted "Ideals" — The Gaze of Bijin-ga

Throughout history, "Bijin-ga" (pictures of beautiful women) have been a prolific subject. In the Edo period, they flourished as a major theme in ukiyo-e, alongside actor prints and landscapes, and continued to evolve uniquely into the modern era with artists like Takehisa Yumeji, who captivated audiences with his "Yumeji-style beauties."

The female figures depicted by Komura Settai are particularly distinctive. Delicate feet glimpsed through willow branches, cool, elongated eyes. While conveying a strong, dignified core, their backs exude an ineffable sensuality and a poignant sense of solitude.

While "beautiful women" in the West were often recorded as aristocratic portraits or realistic genre paintings, Japanese Bijin-ga were not necessarily realistic portraits. Many were the culmination of the artist's ideal, serving as "vessels of longing" that, while sometimes modeled after wives or lovers, encapsulated the atmosphere of their era.

Shikishi (Art Card) — Komura Settai

A figure of a woman, dressed in a finely striped komon kimono tied with a vibrant blue obi, crouching on the ground as pine needles gently flutter and scatter around her.

Shikishi (Art Card) — Komura Settai

The straight lines of a roof and the delicately drawn green lines of a misu (bamboo blind). Through a narrow gap in a canvas strictly demarcated by these coolly geometric "planes and lines," a woman peers out as if scanning the exterior. Below, blue waves gently undulate.

 

 

Shikishi (Art Card) — Komura Settai

 A sharp crescent moon and stars float solitary in a deep indigo night sky. The back of a woman is captured as she leans against the railing of a grand bridge, gazing into the silence of the night. The diagonal line of the railing—Settai’s signature motif—boldly slashes across the frame in a dynamic composition of parallel lines. By deliberately concealing her face and showing only her fully turned back, along with the wave (or willow) patterns on her black obi, he masterfully expresses the woman’s subtle emotions.

 

Even while living in the same era, the forms of "beauty" created by different artists vary surprisingly. When the artist's gaze as a man shines through the canvas, the master artists who have made their mark in history should also feel intimately human, possessing the same warmth as us. Please compare the ideals of each artist.

※The books introduced here can be enjoyed at Tokyo October or Sozoro Books.

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