19th century France, Japan share glances at Tokyo exhibit

A century and a half ago, French and Japanese first made eye contact, exchanging curious and often humorous glances as Japan emerged from its 200-year seclusion to embrace Westerners.

Now their first impressions are being shown at a Tokyo exhibition of original prints and documents entitled "Regards Croises," or "Exchanged Glances," which offers a glimpse into the countries' early perceptions of one another.

The exhibit mainly covers the period following the 1858 signing of the first treaty between the two countries and the arrival of the first French natives to the port of Yokohama outside Tokyo, which opened a year later.

Christian Polak, a French businessman who has lived in Japan for nearly 40 years, gathered some 80,000 documents, prints, books, photographs and illustrations dating from 19th century France and Japan.

A passionate connoisseur of the history of French-Japanese relations, Polak discovered the hidden collector within through a chance encounter in 1973 with Japanese professor Kunitaro Takahashi.

"He urged me to gather documents and to not hesitate to buy even if they appeared pricey," Polak told AFP.

"I listened to his advice and I developed the habit of visiting libraries and bookshops in Japan, France and even in countries that I visited on business trips.

"It is the first time that I am making public a part of my collection," he said.

The exhibit shows 80 prints and lithographic posters that mostly date from the 19th century, except for two engravings that date from the 16th century -- chosen especially to show the "fruits of the imagination of the two sides," said Polak.

One French engraving depicts the lord of Nagasaki in southern Japan with the traits of an Indian maharaja prince wearing a moustache and a cross around his neck, a reflection of the prevalence of Christianity in that region.

The Japanese engraving shows a French couple who resemble Portuguese or Spanish individuals -- they were only a few of the rare foreigners who arrived to Nagasaki's shores in the 16th century.

Polak chose not to show photographs.

"I above all wanted to show documents that were intended for the greater public, like the French advertising posters for perfume or soap illustrated by Japanese women wearing kimonos," he said.

The widespread use of such pieces of art contributed to the growth of "Japonism" in France where Japanese art became a source of inspiration for Impressionist artists in the second half of the 19th century.

The prints, based on the same techniques used by celebrated ukiyo-e or "floating world" artists such as Hiroshige, Utamaro or Hokusai, are often humorously rendered portraits of "barbarians" from "Furansu".

"The ukiyo-e served as newspaper illustrations during that era. They were published in massive amounts only to be thrown away, as people waited for the next publication," Polak said.

Numerous documents show couples holding glasses and wine bottles -- already viewed as a French characteristic, while others show French women riding horses, another object of curiosity.

"The horse was reserved for samurai warriors. A Japanese woman never rode a horse and, in addition, French women rose side-saddle, which intrigued Japanese more," said Polak.

"Exchanged Glances" runs until January 30 at the Chanel building in Tokyo's Ginza district.