Appropriating Japonisme at the 1900 Exposition: Sada Yacco, Loie Fuller, and the ‘Geishas’ of Le Panorama du Tour du Monde

ABSTRACT

Japanese exhibits filled the 1900 Paris Exposition, from the official pavilion at the Trocadéro to ‘geishas' performing in the Panorama du Tour du Monde. The highlight for French reporters, however, was actress Sada Yacco's performances at the Théâtre Loïe Fuller on the rue de Paris. The former geisha joined American Fuller in creating original spectacles that captivated audiences not as Japanese ‘ethnography', as in other exhibits, but as ‘art’. This article draws attention to the rhetorical and commercial strategies used by these women to attract audiences to their own unique artistic performances of Japonisme, Western creations inspired by Japanese traditions.

KEYWORDS:

• Sada Yacco
• Loie Fuller
• geishas
• Panorama du Tour du Monde
• Japan at World's Fair
• ethnographic exhibits
• women entrepreneurs

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Elizabeth Emery is Professor of French at Montclair State University (New Jersey, USA) where she teaches medieval and nineteenth-century French literature and culture. She is the author of books, articles, and essay anthologies related to the reception of medieval art and architecture in nineteenth-century France and America and the links among early photography, journalism, and celebrity culture. A new book, Reframing Japonisme: Women and the Asian Art Market in Nineteenth-Century France (1853–1914) will appear with Bloomsbury Visual Arts this fall.

Notes

1 Born Sada Koyama, she took the geisha name Yakko, combining the two to create the stage name she would use in the West: Sadayakko (Downer 2003). In this article I will use ‘Sada Yacco’, the most common French spelling.

2 Garelick describes Fuller's engineering feats at length; artists and writers of the japoniste and Symbolist movements regularly praised the American for her innovative work (Garelick 2007). YouTube features many colorized film clips of her performances [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dda-BXNvVkQ].

3 ‘Croyez bien que quatre-vingts visiteurs sur cent ne verront même pas les colonnades du grand palais, ils courront tout de suite au petit chef-d’oeuvre de la nature qui roulera ses hanches dans quelque coin perdu de l’Exposition’ (Morin 1900b, 47–48). The focus on silent bodies and denial of subjectivity in such descriptions is typical of objectification as Martha Nussbaum (1995) and Rae Langton (2009) have defined it.

4 The ‘Japanese Court’ of the London Exposition of 1862, composed largely of items brought from Japan by Ambassador Rutherford Alcock, instigated a tradition of Westerners displaying elements of Japanese material culture that most interested them. It was at the 1900 Exposition that the West finally discovered real Japanese treasures, loaned from prominent families.

5 Reporters emphasize the participation of women at this Exposition, perhaps mostly exhaustively in Arsène Alexandre's two-part illustrated ‘Femmes de l’Exposition’, which he presents as ‘une véritable exposition de la femme’ because of his efforts to ‘observe’, ‘classify’ and ‘catalog’ these women ‘réunies pour notre plaisir’ (1900c, 232).

6 Among the many excellent works dedicated to defining and illustrating Japonisme, see Lambourne (2007), and the Journal of Japonisme published by Brill.

7 Demeulenaere-Douyère (2010 and 2018), Chazal (2002), and Décoret-Ahihi (2004) reflect this trend.

8 See, for example, Berg (1995), Fischer-Lichte (2001), Downer (2003), and Anderson (2011). Chiba, however, recognizes the cultural complexity of these performances, suggesting in the article's title that Sada Yacco was a ‘performer of Japonisme’ (Chiba 1992).

9 In two lengthy articles, Berg (1993 and 1995) summarizes press reception in the United States, London, and France. Downer focuses on the English-language press (2003, 103, 127, 154, for example).

10 Darrel Karl's extensive online gallery of imagery related to Sada Yacco (Karl 2015) maps such evolving artistic representations.

11 An article for the Exposition de 1867 illustrée describes them as going about their activities as if the crowds were not watching them (Bellet 1867, 364–65). Lockyer mentions Western fascination for these women and comparison between the Japanese natives in the exhibit and a museum of Japanese dolls in a corner of the farm (Lockyer 2000, 66–67). The 1878 Exposition featured a Japanese pavilion on the Rue des Nations and a working farm at the Trocadéro, while the 1889 event exhibited Japanese art, a garden at the Trocadéro, and a Japanese house.

12 These are major aspects of sexual objectification (Nussbaum 1995; Langton 2009).

13 The Japanese geishas serving sake at the Japanese pavillion are similarly framed within the restricted space of their display; visitors note that ‘elles semblent regretter la patrie’ (Quantin 1900, 199).

14 Paul Greenhalgh traces the widespread nineteenth-century use of such ‘tableaux vivants’ (Greenhalgh 1988). Some Exposition visitors noted that Dumoulin's intention in replacing mannequins with real people was ‘louable’, but that its effect as ‘médiocre’ because their presence emphasized the artificiality of his paintings (Quantin 1900, 350).

15 Garelick devotes a chapter to the exotic women of the 1900 fair (2007, 68–78) and Décoret-Ahihi (2004) focuses on exotic dancers at the expositions.

16 In addition to the Panorama, both the Théâtre exotique at the Trocadéro and the Palais de la danse on the Rue de Paris featured Japanese dancers and musicians, among many other ethnographic acts from around the world. Tellingly, Dumoulin asks Brisson which of the Japanese ‘ballerines’ he prefers (Brisson 1901, 34).

17 Brisson published variants of his interview with the Japanese girls in a number of newspapers and magazines, later making his ‘friend’ Mlle Boule d’épingle and her opinions about Sada Yacco a running motif of the book-length volume about the Exposition in which both articles were reprised (Brisson 1901). See Emery 2020 for an English translation of these texts.

18 For more information about these colleagues’ time in Japan see Béal (2017). Brisson daydreams repeatedly about what it would have been like had he met these attractive young women in Japan (‘un rêve doux et voluptueux’, 1901, 34) and imagines himself tasting Japanese food if Mlle Boule d’Epingle were to feed him with chopsticks (Brisson 1901, 39). Heather MacKenzie (2004) traces the prevalence of such objectifying japoniste tropes.

19 The shamisen solos identified as having been recorded from performances by teenage ‘geishas’ were quite probably performed by members of this troupe, and those by the older woman are likely by Iwama Koumi, the troupe's director (Pougin 1901b, 76). The set of recordings can be consulted here: https://catalogue.bnf.fr/rechercher.do?index=TOUS3&numNotice=43905965&typeNotice=E

20 P. Montani's description of the young women from Tokyo on display in 1867 similarly hints at their humanity: he notes the tears they can be seen to be shedding ‘while writing to their mothers’ (Montani 1867, 198).

21 While Alexandre insists on the number of Japanese women participating in the 1900 exhibit, his article also provides remarkable detail about the women of numerous other nationalities who perform, sell articles, and provide services (he also mentions the Parisians who pretend to be ‘exotic’). He does not count the daughters and wives of Japanese ambassadors because they appear fleetingly in European dress at receptions before being whisked away (Alexandre 1900c, 233). Alexandre's naming of individuals is markedly different from the techniques of E. Troimaux, who reinforces stereotypes in ‘Servantes de l’Exposition’, referring to entire classes of ‘Bretonnes’, ‘Hollandaises’, and ‘[les] Japonaises si douces, si lentes, si charmeuses et si énigmatiques pour nous’ (Troimaux 1900, 170).

22 Chazal's evaluation of archival materials reveals that the ‘noble’ Javanese dancers of 1889 were, in fact, ‘bayadères’ (‘danseuses-prostituées attachées aux cours princières’). He also traces the genesis of performances that were far from authentic (Chazal 2002, 113–14).

23 Sada Yacco's husband, Otojiro Kawakami, sought to distance her from Western conceptions of geishas, first by insisting on her status as an elite performer, and then by stressing her role as a professional actress (Fournier 1900, 14–17, 20–23). Elite Japanese geishas were artists, carefully trained to play traditional musical instruments such as drums and the shamisen, to sing, and to perform dances drawn from the kabuki repertory. Anderson explains in detail the geisha performances of kabuki Sada Yacco undertook in Japan and traces her evolving role within Kawakami's company (2011, 20–22 and on).

24 The Kawakami company had, in fact, engaged with Irving and Terry in New York and it was thanks to their letters of introduction that they were able to perform in London.

25 Public safety was particularly important given concerns about electrical projections after the tragic 1898 Bazar de la charité fire.

26 Lista evokes the extent of the saga, which began with possible participation in the Palais de la danse, but without furnishing notes to his sources (Lista 1994, 333–56). He also says that she changed plans again after 23 March, which I cannot confirm. Jean-Baptiste Minnaert succinctly summarizes Fuller's interactions with the organizing committee and architects in 1900; these are preserved in the Archives nationales file dedicated to ‘Le Théâtre Loïe Fuller’ (AN F12.4360). An initial project for a 600-seat theatre was abandoned in favour of a March 1899 concession near the Pont Alexandre III, a 60-person theatre where a lifelike doll would perform. Fuller sold that concession in July 1900, accepting instead (in March 1900) what would become the final theatre, a larger concession near the Place de l’Alma, which was initially to serve merely as a puppet theatre and museum (Minnaert 2002, 54–55).

27 This plot's specifications come from Lista (1994, 342). A plan dated 22 March 1900 shows a stage that seems to be about 8 metres across by 6 deep. AN F12.4360.

28 Fournier, who attended the dress rehearsal, notes that there was no publicity other than a sign and no more than 50 people in attendance (1900, 6). The Gaulois advertised the premiere of a performance entitled La Chinoise on 22 June.

29 La Caricature, for example, pans her performances at the Olympia, noting that she persists in doing the same thing in spite of the fact that many imitators now surpass her own talents (Lélio 1900, 159). Although she had attempted to copyright her choreography in 1892, the attempt failed, thus allowing the proliferation of copycats (Kraut 2015).

30 Kawakami mentions in an interview with Fournier that Sada Yacco took acting lessons and was ‘cast’ in her roles (Fournier 1900, 22–23). She studied Western acting techniques while in the United States, notably at the New York Actor's School (Berg 1995, 346).

31 Chiba and Downer evoke the ways in which they cleverly adapted performances based on cultural tastes, noting in interviews and memoirs the differences among American, British, and French audiences.

32 These figures come from Anderson (2011, 496), who mentions that Fuller paid them only 1500 when the agreed-upon fee had been 3000. They allegedly reached a compromise only with the intervention of the ambassador (2002, 486). His Japanese sources, however, also say that the theatre held 500 people (impossible in a seating space that measured no more than 8 by 15 metres), which calls into question the validity of other details.

33 Brisson also perpetuates the widespread French legend that Sada Yacco was one of only two Japanese women authorized to perform on stage (1901, 225–26). Downer notes that all-woman kabuki troupes existed, but that even when men and women were authorized to perform alongside one another (as of 1891), they generally did not (Downer 2003, 48–49).

34 Kawakami told Fournier that she took inspiration from dying hospital patients (Fournier 1900, 23).

35 A great number of photographs and publicity materials, particularly from the company's return to Paris in 1901, are preserved in the Arts du spectacle collection of the Bibliothèque nationale: Dossier Yacco [Sada] 4-ICO PER-276644 and Boîte 4-ICO THE-4678.

36 The sets used in 1901 Théâtre de l’Athénée performances show Fuller performing against the Japanese backdrop vacated by Sada Yacco. BnF Arts du spectacle 4oICO THE 4678.

37 Garelick describes Fuller's ability to transcend eroticism through clothing that masked her body and performances that created ethereal impressions (2007, 114–15).

38 ‘J’estime que […] Sada Yacco atténue l’horreur de ce tableau, qu’elle l’épure et le dégage de ce qu’il pourrait avoir de trop répugnant, en maintenant jusqu’au bout l’esprit éveillé près de la matière […] en nous donnant l’illusion simultanée de la double mort, physique et morale […] Sada Yacco est incomparable … ’ (Brisson 1901, 231). The son-in-law of influential critic Francisque Sarcey, Brisson became theatre critic of Le Temps in 1903.

39 The Archives nationales contain letters relative to a number of such issues (AN F12.4360). Her remarkable technical innovation can be gauged by the numerous patents she filed (Lista 1994; Garelick 2007), and the theatre at the Exposition was no exception. Part of the delay in opening had to do with the complexities of the lighting system and the gas generators she had to have specially installed since the Exposition could not furnish the wattage she needed (AN F12.4360).

40 The contract signed by Fuller on 24 March 1900 shows that she had to follow these rules even though her attraction did not open before the fair started. Archives nationales F12.4360, fol. 11.

41 Correspondence preserved in the Archives nationales shows her negotiation skills in action. Finding the plot accorded her too small and ‘peu monumental’ to attract visitors, and realizing that she will be unable to make ends meet at the one franc admission fee she will be obliged to set in this location, she asks Frantz Jourdain on 30 January 1900 whether he might see fit to reduce the price (AN F12.4360 fol 8). She then persuades him to intervene on her behalf to obtain a plot in the much more advantageous Rue de Paris section, right across from the Palais de la danse. She exploits concerns surrounding incomplete concessions at the start of the Exposition in order to push through her new plan.

42 Fournier (1900, 34–36). Lista traces Fuller's role as the company's manager in their 1901 European tour and again after Kawakami's death when Sada Yacco came with her own troupe (370–380).

43 Lista has traced the importance of Fuller's lighting schemes for the reception of Sada Yacco's death scene: the blood seemed to drain from her face as shadows crept across the stage leaving only a greenish light trained on the death mask (Lista 1994, 362).