Cross-dressers in Ukiyo-e

The Ota Memorial Museum of Art, exhibiting mainly ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), holds its new exhibition about cross-dressing throughout history. The biggest part focuses on cross-dressing culture around the world, showing American berdache and Indian hijira. The ukiyo-e, which became popular during the Edo period (1603-1868), portrait male kabuki actors playing female characters and geisha dressed up in male attire during festivals to entertain their guests. Through works of Harunobu Suzuki, Hiroshige Utagawa and Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, the customs and cultures of loose boundaries between genders during the Edo period are illustrated.