Author Archives: Moko

Shoetsu Otomo and His Models

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Shoetsu Otomo (大友正悦) was born in 1950. Very little information about his life prior to meeting his most famous model, Satomi Hiromoto (廣本悟己)is available. At the time he met her, in the latter half of 1980 or the first half of 1981, Otomo was already a photographer. When the Kanji characters for his name are entered into an automatic translator, the name is rendered as Masayoshi Otomo. On the covers of his books, however, Otomo spells his name with the Latin alphabet as Shoetsu Otomo, and that is the spelling I will use. Many thanks to a Pigtails reader who provided most of the photographs that illustrate this article.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi (circa 1984)

An article on the lolicon website Argonorakuza implies that Otomo specialized in travel and landscape photography. Children often appeared in the background of the scenes he photographed. Otomo was quoted as saying , “I can’t compete with the smiles of children.” and “When you meet the smiles of cute children, you can’t help but press the shutter.”

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi at Age Eight (1980-81) (1)

Satomi Hiromoto was born in Tokyo, Japan on June 5, 1972. In 1979 she entered Oizumi Elementary School attached to Tokyo Gakugei University. When Satomi was eight years old, Otomo noticed her playing in a park. He approached Satomi’s mother and asked if he could take some photos of the daughter. The mother agreed, and in the discussion with her, Otomo learned that Satomi’s family was quite artistic. Satomi’s father was a painter, and her brother was a pianist. Satomi could also paint and play piano, but her main interest was the practice of classical ballet. Over the next two years, Otomo became a friend of the Hiromoto family. In addition to whatever photos were taken in the park, Otomo photographed Satomi at age eight wearing a white dress and frolicking in a field of tall grass. Although these photos were taken in 1980 or 1981, they were not published until 1995.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi at Age Eight (1980-81) (2)

When Satomi was ten years old, in the summer of 1982, Otomo planned a photo shoot for her in Spain. This shoot would be Satomi’s first experience in nude modeling, and would provide material for Otomo’s first lolicon book. Mallorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea, was chosen as the location for the photo shoot. Otomo, Satomi, and a crew including a producer and a stylist travelled over 6,000 miles on a flight that lasted over 22 hours for the shoot. It was quite an elaborate production, and a gamble for Otomo who had never made a lolicon book before. It paid off when the photo book Satomi 10 Year Old Myth (さとみ十歳の神話) was released in January 1983 and quickly became one of lolicon’s biggest hits.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Spain (1982) (1)

Satomi was photographed both indoors and outdoors, both clothed and nude. She was usually alone, but a Spanish woman and a Spanish girl are present in a few of the photos. It is remarkable how comfortable she appears on her first nude shoot and in a foriegn land. Her training as a ballerina is evident in the grace with which she handles many of the poses. In photographs by Otomo, more than other lolicon photographers, it is apparent that the both the model and the photographer contribute to the success of the image. This is especially shown in the indoor photos of Satomi in Spain; note how she positions her arms and legs. In the photograph of Satomi with a seated Spanish woman, the woman is sitting casually while Satomi seems to be in a ballet inspired pose. In three illustrations for this article, Satomi is standing with one knee up and her foot resting against her leg. This is a common pose for Satomi, but it is not used by Otomo’s other models. This leads me to believe that posing this way is Satomi’s idea, rather than a pose dictated by the photographer.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Spain (1982) (2)

There are sequences in which Satomi stood by a mirror or lay on the floor and asssumed various poses while Otomo snapped the pictures. Satomi was uninhibited in her poses, but Otomo was restrained in choosing what to photograph and publish. When Satomi posed with legs open too far, if Otomo photographed it at all he did so at an angle from which the pubic area was not visible. He did this in the top photo of the illustration captioned Satomi in Spain (1982) (7); a page from the book Satomi Forever. A Spanish man is with Satomi in two of the photos in Satomi 10 Year Old Myth. Whenever a male is present in a photograph by Otomo, all figures, male and female, are clothed.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Spain (1982) (4)

Satomi 10 Year Old Myth also contains photographs of the Spanish landscape and architecture. Satomi is present in most, but not all of the landscape photos. Otomo is known for photographing models in natural settings. The photo of Satomi standing at the corner of a building Is typical of Otomo’s architectural compositions. I believe this photo is from Pohnpei, but it could also be from Hawaii.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Spain (1982) (5)

More photos from the Spanish photo shoot were released in the book Lolita Doll (ロリータ・ドール) in August 1983, but there were no new photos of Satomi for over a year after Satomi 10 Year Old Myth. Disappointed fans thought that Satomi would be one of many lolicon models with only one photo shoot. Then in July 1984 Otomo’s and Satomi’s second book, Peek-A-Boo (original title in English) was released.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Spain (1982) (6)

Peek-A-Boo, like Satomi 10 Year Old Myth, was a very expensive production of photo shoots in natural settings at exotic locales. Two separate locations over 3,000 miles (nearly 5,000 kilometers) apart were used for the photo shoots in Peek-A-Boo. It appears that most photos in Peek-A-Boo were shot on the island of Pohnpei. It is reported that some were shot in Hawaii. This raises the question of why Otomo chose Pohnpei and Hawaii for the photo shoots. Both are tropical Pacific islands with lush vegetation and blue water, but there are other tropical locations that are more economically accessible from Japan. In order to travel from Japan to Pohnpei by commercial air, one must first go to either Hawaii or Guam, then change airplanes to go the Pohnpei. Guam is significantly closer to both Japan and Pohnpei than is Hawaii.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Spain (1982) (7)

Satomi was not photographed with any unique features of either Pohnpei or Hawaii, such as the volcanoes of Hawaii, or in the ruins of Nan Madol of Pohnpei. Therefore, to a layman there seems to be no reason to go to the expense of paying for a production crew to go to the remote locale. There may be subtle differences in the scenery that makes Pohnpei a better choice than other places for an artist like Otomo, but it is likely that Otomo’s passion for artistry resulted in a lower profit margin. Perhaps Otomo and Satomi cared more about fine art than about making money.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Peek-A-Boo (1984) (1)

Peek-A-Boo was released in July 1984, when Satomi was twelve years and one month old. Some sources state that Satomi was twelve when photographed for Peek-A-Boo; according to others she was eleven. It is possible that both are correct, if her twelfth birthday occurred during the project.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Peek-A-Boo (1984) (2)

Satomi’s next, and last photo project was for the book Fly-A-Way, released in December 1984. She was twelve years old when photographed for Fly-A-Way, but she looks older. She was still a minor, but because she matured so quickly Fly-A-Way, in my opinion, is closer to the teen idol genre than to actual lolicon. Fly-A-Way was shot in two locations near opposite ends of Japan; Hokkaido in the north and Yakushima in the south. Yakushima is a small island, most of which is covered by tropical forest, south of the Japanese main islands. Both the photos and a video for Fly-A-Way were recorded in the summer of 1984.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Satomi Forever (1984) (1)

Otomo photographed Satomi in the summer in Spain and Japan, and her other photo shoots were in the tropics. However, photos of Satomi in the winter snow were published in Satomi Forever. I have not been able to discover when or where the winter photos were taken.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Satomi Forever (1984) (2)

Satomi seemed to be proud of her work, and wanted her fans to know her. Unlike many lolicon models, she always used her real name when modeling. She put personal details in her books; for example, her favorite colors are purple and burgundy, she enjoys reading fairy tales, and her favorite food is shrimp.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Fly-A-Way (1984)

On September 27, 1984 Satomi hosted a video release party at the Capitol Tokyu Hotel, a luxury hotel in the Nagatacho district of Tokyo. Fans and the news media were invited. Satomi’s parents and grandparents were there. Satomi’s brother played piano to entertain the guests. Satomi wore a sailor suit, held a press conference, and was reported to be a gracious hostess and a charming young lady. She said that her hope for the future was to become an actress. In my opinion, the video release party illustrates the Japanese attitude about lolicon at the height of the lolicon era. Lolicon was art; it was respectable. One of Tokyo’s finest hotels had no problem with being the site of the lolicon release party, and the mainstream press attended. Support that Satomi received from family, friends, and the public for her art as a nude model was no different than the support she would have received if her art had been painting or ballet. Her fans expected that Satomi would continue modeling.

Shoetsu Otomo – Satomi in Winter (no date)

Surprisingly, Satomi was never in another commercial photo shoot. Also, she never pursued her dream of becoming an actress. In April 1985 some photos of Satomi from old photo shoots, as well as photos of other models were published in Beppin Special Edition Lolita Scramble. After that, no photos of Satomi were published until November 1995. Why did her career end so abrubtly? I don’t know, but I can speculate.

Shoetsu Otomo – Reona (1998)

In 1985 Satomi entered junior high school. There was a report that she had difficulty in getting along with others. It was not specified who made the report or why Satomi had difficulties, but there may be an obvious reason why. Satomi was a glamorous model. She was paid well to travel to exotic locations and be photographed. Her photos were published in books which no doubt attracted favorable attention of the boys in her school. It would seem natural, in these circumstances, for girls in her school to be jealous of Satomi. Perhaps Satomi felt that she had to choose between continuing her career as a model or being accepted by her female classmates. On graduating from school Satomi married and devoted her time to raising a family; she had no time for a career away from home.

Shoetsu Otomo – Aoi (1996) (1)

Another possibility for the reason she quit modeling could be that she was getting old for lolicon. I don’t think that was the reason she quit modeling, because other lolicon models continued to model as adults. Of the many lolicon models that were active during the 1969 through 1999 lolicon era in Japan, four of them, Satomi Hiromoto, Rika Nishimura (real name unknown), Nozomi Kurahashi (aka Ayumi Yoshizawa) and Shiori Suwano (real name Shigeko Niimi) achieved exceptionally great popularity and may be considered lolicon supermodels. Rika and Nozomi continued to model successfully as adults. Shiori did not like modeling, but used the fame she gained as a model to launch a successful acting career. Otomo photographed models well past puberty, so it seems unlikely that he quit photographing Satomi because of her age.

Shoetsu Otomo – The Room (1997)

Although there were no new photos of Satomi, photos from old shoots were again published after she graduated high school. Two books exclusively dedicated to Satomi were Satomi, released November 1995; and Satomi Forever, released November 1998. Satomi and other models photographed by Shoetsu Otomo were featured in the book Dreams, released May 1998. After Satomi was printed, but before it was released for sale, three American service men on Okinawa gang raped and severely beat a young Japanese girl. I remember seeing news reports of the incident in both American media and an English language newspaper from the Philippines. Although it was reported from different viewpoints, I do not remember any report that lolicon was in any way involved. Nevertheless, the publisher of Satomi decided that because of the rape, it would be best to censor the book. Sandpaper was used to erase the pubic area of photos in books sold in bookstores. The books sent by mail to individuals who ordered them were not censored. They were mailed in white boxes and are known as “White Satomi“; they are sought after as collector’s items today.

Shoetsu Otomo – Shinobu on Saipan (1984) (1)

Shoetsu Otomo photographed eight other models, in addition to Satomi, who are usually classified as lolicon. Five of them are in my opinion, a little old for lolicon. Reona (Minori Ishiki) began her career as an advertising model at age five. She is one of the famous models of the lolicon era, and was very good at modeling. She was twelve when she modeled for Otomo, and was well developed for her age. She was still a child, but looked more like a teenager with fully developed breasts, a womanly figure, and pubic hair. Two photo books of Reona photographed by Otomo were released in 1998, and she was also in the book Dreams released the same year. Aoi Inoue, a Japanese actress, was fourteen when she modeled for Otomo, and also too old for lolicon in the strictest sense. Her book Sonatine was released in 1996. Three anonymous southeast Asian teen girls modeled for Otomo in the book The Room (1997). One source stated they were from the Philippines. They appear to be amateurs and trying not to laugh, aware that they are getting away with something (posing nude) that would not normally be allowed. The Room appears to be a low budget work, shot in one session in a hotel room with local amateur girls.

Shoetsu Otomo – Shinobu on Saipan (1984) (2)

Of the three models, other than Satomi, who definitely are lolicon, the first is Shinobu Nemoto (根本しのぶ). Shinobu started modeling at age eight months in an advertisement for powdered milk. She continued modeling in print advertisements and acting in television commercials through her childhood, appearing in about 200 television commercials and about 3,000 print ads. When Otomo photographed her in 1984, she was one of the most recognized faces in Japan. Shinobu was photographed on Saipan where she celebrated her eleventh birthday on January 19, 1984. The photos were published in the book I’m not a Child (こどもじゃないモン) which was released on May 30, 1984. There are no nudes in the book. The text is handwritten, aledgedly by Shinobu herself, and tells of her impressions of Saipan and the excitement of turning eleven. In the second picture of Shinobu in this article she is holding a seed pod from a tree. She wrote that she enjoyed swinging the pod like a sword. I’m not a Child gives the reader the feeling of being a guest at Shinobu’s birthday party. Saipan is a popular destination for Japanese tourists, and is also the site of Teruo Maeba’s lolicon photos of Shiori Suwano.

Shoetsu Otomo – Emi in Hawaii (c1996) (1)

Emi’s Summer Vacation (えみちゃんの夏休み), released in 1996, is similar to Shinobu’s book, in that both offer the reader a glimpse of the model’s personal life. Emi’s Summer Vacation gives the impression that the reader is tagging along with Emi Hirose (広瀬 絵美) and her parents on a vacation in Hawaii. The text is written in a childish hand by Emi, telling about her trip to Hawaii. Emi is not as polished in her poses as the more experienced models. In some photos she seems bored, as if she wants to stop posing and have fun. Emi’s Summer Vacation was shot in several locations in Hawaii, and even though Emi was not an experienced model, her photo sessions appear to have been an expensive project. Was Emi a relative of Otomo, or the daughter of Otomo’s friends?

Shoetsu Otomo – Emi in Hawaii (c1996) (2)

Satomi married young, and when she was nineteen gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Kirara. Shortly before the new Japanese law brought the lolicon era to an end, Otomo did a nude photo shoot of Satomi’s daughter Kirara. The photos were not published in a book, but were distributed to Satomi’s fans. People who have seen the photos say that Kirara looks much like her mother. If lolicon had lasted a little longer, Kirara may have been the second generation lolicon star in her family.

Shoetsu Otomo – Emi in Hawaii (c1996) (3)

Friedel Grieder

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Ida Schweighauser became Friedel Grieder when she married Ernst Grieder in Switzerland in 1913. According to Wikipedia she not only changed her surname to Grieder, but also changed her given name from Ida to Friedel.  It was not explained why.  They had three children, one of whom died shortly after birth. The family lost their money during World War I. Friedel’s husband died in 1927, and their daughter Rösli died in 1929 when she was only 12 years old. In the same year Friedel Grieder, then age 39,entered into psychological treatment to cope with the tragedy in her life.

Friedel Grieder – Dreispitzpark Mädchen (no date) (1)

Friedel Grieder – Dreispitzpark Mädchen (no date) (2)

Her treatment included art therapy, and her talent was immediately evident.  She started sculpting, and created many sculptures of young children.  Two years later, in 1931, she opened her studio in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. Grieder taught and gave art therapy at a sanatorium in Kreuzlingen. Several of her works are on public display in Kreuzlingen. Dreispitzpark Mädchen sits in Dreispitzpark. Wehrlischulhaus Mädchen is by the military schoolhouse. Both portray a girl about 12 years old, the age at which Rösli Grieder died.  Friedel Grieder died in 1980 at age 89.

Friedel Grieder – WehrlischulhausMädchen (1952)

Edward Berge

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Edward Henry Berge was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1876. He studied art first in Maryland then went to Paris and studied under Auguste Rodin. He returned to Baltimore and lived there until his death in 1924. Berge sculpted in both marble and bronze.

Edward Berge – Sea Urchin – (1921) (1)

Edward Berge – Sea Urchin – (1921) (2)

Edward Berge – Sea Urchin – (1921) (3)

Sea Urchin is a four-foot-tall statue of a girl standing on a sea urchin. It was sculpted in 1921 for a public fountain in Baltimore. Smaller editions were made, as shown in the second and third illustrations. In 1961 the Sea Urchin was replaced by a copy sculpted by Berge’s son, and the original was moved to Johns Hopkins University. Edward Berge had two sons who were also artists, and Edward’s father was a German gravestone carver.

Edward Berge – Wild Flower (1909) (1)

Edward Berge – Wild Flower (1909) (2)

Some of Berge’s finest work are his fountain statues of nude girls. Wildflower is one of his more famous. Originally cast life-size in 1909, subsequent editions were cast in 1916 and 1923. Professor Moses Slaughter purchased Wildflower in 1917 and donated it to the Madison Wisconsin Public Library in memory of his two daughters. Wildflower was placed in a pool fountain outside the library building. In the 1960s, the library was moved to a new location. Wildflower was moved to an indoor location on the second floor of the new library, and in 2015 it was moved again to the children’s room of the new library. Another copy of Wildflower is in Homeland Garden, Baltimore.

Edward Berge – Violet (c1916) (1)

Edward Berge – Violet (c1916) (2)

Violet is another sculpture that is similar to Wildflower. Three violets are in the girl’s hair. Violet was intended as a fountain, with water flowing from the girl’s hands.

Edward Berge – At Water’s Edge (1914)

At Water’s Edge differs from the other statues in this article in that it features a sitting girl. The serene expression on her face, however, is like the others.

Edward Berge – Poppy (1922) (1)

Edward Berge – Poppy (1922) (2)

Poppy represents a tiny wood nymph with a poppy on her head. Nymph on a Turtle (aka Will-o’-the-Wisp) is a water nymph on a turtle. This statue was featured in a previous article here.

Edward Berge – Nymph on a Turtle (date unknown)

The dates given for the sculptures in the captions are often the date from a particular example. When I could find the date a work was originally created, I used that date. Duck Mother is dated 1924. If that is the date of the original, it may be one of Berge’s last pieces.

Edward Berge – Duck Mother (1923)

Two Nude images by Carl Larsson

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Carl Olof Larsson was a Swedish painter who has been featured in Pigtails here and here. Larsson was born in 1853, and had an unhappy childhood because of his irresponsible father. At age 13 he applied for the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, and was accepted. Larsson became a professional illustrator for two newspapers, as well as books and magazines. His income was sufficient to support his parents as well as himself.

Carl Larsson – Graziella Asking Whether She will do as a Model (1888)

In 1877 Carl Larsson moved to Paris and in 1882 moved to a Scandinavian artists’ colony at Grez-sur-Loing. There he met the Swedish artist Karin Bergöö, whom he married. They had eight children. In 1888 the Larsson family returned to Sweden. Larsson is most famous for his depictions of happy family life, often using his own family as models. Larsson wrote in his memoirs of the family paintings, “… these pictures are of course a very genuine expression of my personality, of my deepest feelings, of all my limitless love for my wife and children.”

Larsson is also famous for his frescos in public buildings. His nudes are not as well known, even though he won his first medal in art, while still a teenager, for drawing nudes. The two illustrations in this article are examples of his nude illustrations.

When Larsson was living in France, aspiring models frequented the artists’ colony looking for work. In 1888, before the Larsson family moved to Sweden, a young Italian girl came to Larsson’s studio and asked if she would do as a model. Larsson apparently thought that Graziella, the girl, would do as a model, for we have this drawing he made of her. She was more slender than was considered to be ideal at the time. Her expression is not one of confidence. Nevertheless, Larsson’s drawing of her is quite touching. Suzanne Larsson, Carl’s oldest child, would have been about four years old when Graziella modeled for this drawing. Perhaps the artist’s affection for his daughter, who was only a few years younger than Graziella, helped him to create a sympathetic image of Graziella. I found two examples of this drawing online, a scan of an etching and a scan of a postage stamp. The illustration on a 1982 Swedish postage stamp is sharper than a scan of the etching, so it is the one shown here.

Carl Larsson – Mammas och Småflickornas Rum (1897)

The second nude in this post is typical of Larsson’s paintings of family life. The painting shows the mother’s and little girls’ room. Since it was painted in 1897, the nude girl on the left must be the artist’s daughter Brita, who was born in 1893. The infant in the middle of the painting would be Kersti, born 1896, and the older girl on the right would be Lisbeth, born in 1891.

Allan Österlind

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In 1874, 18-year old Allan Österlind began his studies at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. In 1877 he went to Paris, and enrolled in École des Beaux-Arts the following year. He wanted to study sculpture, but his teacher recommended that he instead become a painter. He became well known for his watercolor paintings. In 1893 he visited Spain, making several sketches from which he would later paint watercolors. After the death of his wife in 1916 he developed severe depression, and died in poverty in 1938.

The first of Österlind’s paintings in this article is Modell Framför Staffliet (Model in front of the Easel). The watercolor painting is approximately 20 inches by 29 inches. I was surprised to see that this painting was sold in 2014 for $409, and again in 2021 for $328. A beautiful painting by a famous artist sold for what seems to me to be a low price in 2014, and in spite of inflation sold for less in 2021. The girl’s right hand is positioned as if she has drawn back the bowstring, yet the bow is flexed very little if at all. If the model actually held back the bowstring, it would be difficult for her to hold the pose for any reasonable length of time.

Allan Österlind – Modell Framför Staffliet (no date)

The next painting is Spansk Gatuscen (Spanish Street Scene). This 24-inch by 19-inch oil painting, like most paintings in this article, is not dated. It was painted some time after Österlind’s 1893 trip to Spain. Spansk Gatuscen, like Modell Framför Staffliet, is a realistic depiction of a scene familiar to the artist.

Allan Österlind – Spansk Gatuscen (no date)

Råttfångaren från Hameln (The Rat Catcher from Hamelin) is Österlind’s interpretation of the Pied Piper legend. The oil painting is approximately five feet long by two feet wide. The haunting expressions on the faces of the doomed children is typical of the dark style that is present in many of Österlind’s later paintings. In the standard version of the legend the piper led the children into a cave. In an alternate version, apparently the one used for this painting, they were drowned in the river. According to records in the city of Hamelin, this incredible event actually happened in the year 1284. Österlind painted both the piper and the girls dressed in 1890s style, contemporary with the painting. This contributes to the somber mood of the painting by making the incident appear as happening in the present, rather than “once upon a time” in an ancient fairy tale.

Allan Österlind – Råttfångaren från Hameln (1897)

Thirteen children in the front of the line are all girls. Details of the children farther behind are hazy, but they may also be girls. Why did Österlind not include any boys among the ill-fated children? Did he think girls would arouse more sympathy? Did he like painting girls better than boys?  One of the girls looks directly at the piper, and he looks back coldly, not in malice, but in what seems to be a complete lack of emotion.

The last painting is titled in French Autour de l’enfant (Around the Child). It is a watercolor, slightly larger than three feet by two feet. As in the previous painting, the facial expression of the child is disturbing. I am not sure what is happening in this painting. It appears that the girl is either being treated for an injury, or is being treated for a disease by bloodletting, which continued to be practiced into the early part of the 20th century. The child’s face is in the light, and is more realistic than that of the adults in the painting. She is staring at the viewer in apparent fright, while the adults are calm. There is something disturbing about the scene.

Allan Österlind – Autour de l’enfant (no date)

Rika Nishimura, a Photo-Lolicon Supermodel

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Rika Nishimura (西村理香) was the professional name of one of the most famous child models of the Japanese Photo-Lolicon era. Photographer Yasushi Rikitake (力武靖) is responsible for making her famous. Photo-Lolicon first became popular in Japan in November 1969 with Kazuo Kenmochi’s nude photobook of model Tae Umehara. Popularity of the young girl photobooks grew fairly slowly in the 1970s, as naturist magazines were imported into Japan, and some photographers, notably Sumiko Kiyooka began to photograph young girls. Then around 1980 Photo-Lolicon started to boom. Over a hundred Photo-Lolicon books were released in the early 1980s, and some of them sold millions of copies.

Yasushi Rikitake – Before Waking Up Cover (1994)

The first work I can find of Yasushi Rikitake is the omnibus photobook Lolita Sisters, which was released in October 1983. Rikitake was one of eight photographers who contributed to Lolita Sisters. In August 1984 Lolita Friends was released, another omnibus photobook by six photographers including Rikitake. Popularity of Photo-Lolicon peaked in about 1984, and then began a slow decline until 1988. In 1988 Tsutomu Miyazaki was arrested for kidnapping and murdering four girls, age four through seven. A large amount of lolicon anime and manga was found in his home, and the crime so shocked Japan that many came to see lolicon as evil. It was still legal, but less popular that it had been. It became more difficult to find models among Japanese girls since lolicon was tainted with a stigma, so many of the photographers who remained in the business sought models in foreign countries, especially Southeast Asia and Russia.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Before Waking Up (1994)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1994) (1)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1994) (2)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1994) (3)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1994) (4)

In 1989 Rikitake began to be more active in Photo-Lolicon, and in ten years had published about 150 photobooks under his own name, and nearly a hundred more under the pseudonym Ryu Kurokage. He went to Thailand hoping to find models among the girls in rural areas where it was acceptable for pre-pubescent children to go naked. Rikitake was introduced to an alcoholic who needed money and was going to sell his young daughter to a brothel in Bangkok. The man’s wife had run away and deserted the family. Rikitake could hire the girl as a model, but the problem was that after he returned to Japan, the girl’s father would still be able to sell her into prostitution. An arrangement was negotiated in which the girl would live with a loving aunt, and Rikitake would send the aunt a monthly stipend to support the girl. In return, the girl would model for Rikitake when he visited Thailand. This was a very good arrangement for both the girl, who now had a stable, happy home; and for Rikitake who now had a model who would become perhaps the most popular of all Photo-Lolicon models.

Yasushi Rikitake – Friends IV Cover (1995)

Her real name is confidential, as is her hometown. She is known only by the Japanese name she adopted for modelling; Rika Nishimura. Modesty may not be a trait commonly associated with nude models, but Rika likes to keep her personal details private.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Friends IV (1995)

Rika made her debut with the mook (magazine/book) Before Waking Up (目覚める前に), which was released in 1994 by the Rikitake Yasushi Photo Office. This is a photobook of Rika, both clothed and nude, posing alone in the outdoors. Although she is young and this is her first book, she appears to have a natural talent for modelling, and seems to enjoy it. It is not known exactly how young she is. No age is given in Before Waking Up, but she looks to me to be about eight or nine. In 1996 some photos from Before Waking Up were republished in One Million Rem Gaze (百万レムの視線), and her age when photographed is given there as ten. In 1998 some photos from Before Waking Up were published in both Six Years Trilogy (SixYears三部作) and Portraits of Jenny (ジェニー達の肖像), and in each of those works she is said to have been eleven when the photos were taken.

Yasushi Rikitake – Friends V Cover (1996)

The first two illustrations in this article are the cover and a clothed photo from Before Waking Up. The photos are from kansai.nymphs.us, which has many more lolicon photos, all non-nude.  The Japanese text on some of the photos gives the title of the publication, the model’s name, and the photographer’s name. Nude photos of Rika and other Japanese models were common on Japanese internet sites in the 1990s, but the photos suddenly disappeared in 1999 when photographs of nude minors became illegal in Japan. When I wrote this article, I thought it was unfortunate that a nude photo was not available, because Rika Nishimura is famous as a nude model. Two days after this article was published, Bob Freely submitted some nude images of Rika from Six Years Trilogy, Volume One. Many thanks to Bob for making it possible to include a sample of the nudes for which Rika Nishimura is best known.

The next four images are some of Bob’s contributions from Six Years Trilogy. They appear to be from the same photo shoot as Before Waking Up. Judging from her facial expression, Rika appears to be more relaxed in the nude photos than when she is clothed. Perhaps she was more accustomed to going naked, and was worried about getting her new clothes dirty.

 

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Friends V (1996)

Rikitake worked at that time with three publishers; Rikitake Yasushi Photo Office, Pepe, and Circle Company. His own company, Rikitake Yasushi Photo Office, and Pepe were both specialists in Photo-Lolicon, and sold their books in dedicated lolicon shops. Circle Company was the biggest publisher and sold its works in general bookstores. Circle Company censored photos in its books very slightly, by blurring the pudendal cleft, thus making them acceptable for general bookstores. Photos in books by Rikitake Yasushi Photo Office and Pepe are not censored. None of the books with Rika’s photographs were published by Circle Company. In spite of Rika’s books being less widely distributed than books of the models who were published by Circle Company, she became the most popular.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1994) (5)

Pepe published Rika’s next two books; Friends IV (1995) and Friends V (1996). The original titles were in English, the universal language and thus more fitting for books that were presented as fine art. The Friends series consists of five books by Rikitake, and in each book, two or more models were photographed together. In Friends IV the two models were Rika Nishimura and Kayoko Miura. According to Wikipedia, Friends IV was the fastest selling of the Friends series. Rika and Kayoko were also featured, along with four more models, in Friends V. Rika and Kayoko were both twelve years old when Friends IV was photographed. In Friends V Rika’s age is still given as twelve but Kayoko is now thirteen. This would indicate that the ages were reckoned by the western method of adding a year of age at the anniversary of her birth, rather than the traditional oriental method of adding a year on New Year’s Day. Other girls from Rika’s village in Thailand modeled for Rikitake, and in order to maintain good relations with the people of the village, Rikitake was obliged to photograph all of the girls who volunteered. Therefore it is very possible that girls photographed together in the Friends series were actually friends in real life.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1995) (6)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1995) (7)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1995) (8)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1995) (9)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1995) (10)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1995) (11)

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 1 (circa1995) (12)

The next photobook in which Rika appeared is One Million Rem Gaze, Published in 1996 by Rikitake Yasushi Photo Office, but no new photos were in this book. It was only a selection of sample photos of more than one hundred models from books previously released. In January 1998 Rikitake Yasushi Photo Office released the three-volume Six Years Trilogy which is the largest collection of photographs of Rika. Volume One consists of photos of Rika at age eleven and twelve; Volume Two shows her at ages thirteen and fourteen, and she is fifteen and sixteen in Volume Three. It was never explained why Rikitake kept photos of Rika for up to five years without publishing them. By this time Rika was not only Rikitake’s star model, but she was also his photographic assistant and interpreter.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 2 (circa1996) (1)

Two clothed photosfrom Six Years Trilogy which I found on the internet are followed by six photos that Bob Freely submitted. Bob also submitted a scan of the title page for Volume One of Six Years Trilogy, which has the following quote, “No one knows where they came from, where they go, where the wind blows and the seas go round, but no one knows.From Robert Nathan [Portrait of Jenny].”

Japanese publishers during the Photo-Lolicon era were very careful to avoid any sexual activity in their art. While there are some people who would find any nudity offensive, these photos are devoid of any laciviousness. It is surprising that Japanese lolicon nudes are so difficult to find, when edgier works such as the Sally Mann’s Three Graces or some of the photos of Jock Sturges are easily found. In these photos the background is blurry, thus focusing attention on the model. Other photographers who deemphasize the background include Lucas Roels and F.R. Yerbury. Rika seems relaxed and happy to pose.

In 1998 it was apparent that Photo-Lolicon would soon be prohibited. The Law Concerning the Punishment of Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the Protection of Children was introduced into parliament, and was passed in May 1999. On November 1, 1999 the law became effective, and Photo-Lolicon was outlawed.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 2 (circa1996) (2)

Rika was in two more books just before Photo-Lolicon was banned. The first was the seven volume Portraits of Jenny. This work was an attempt to leave a legacy that would, because of its artistic merit, remain legal under the new law. Each volume was a full size hardcover 160-page book, printed on acid-free archival quality paper, with what Rikitake thought were his most artistic photographs. About 200 models were included. Some models had photos that were previously unpublished; others had photos that were previously published in a censored version, but all photos in Portraits of Jenny were uncensored. No new photos of Rika were in Portraits of Jenny; all were from the Six Years Trilogy. Portraits of Jenny was an expensive book when it was released in 1998, at over ninety dollars for each volume, and it is even more expensive on the used book market today.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Six Years Trilogy Volume 3 (circa1997)

Rika continued to model through age 22, but only one more book of her photos, Last Christmas (ラストクリスマス, 1999, Sanwa Publishing), was published before the lolicon era came to an end. She was seventeen when photographed for Last Christmas, and was really more of a young woman than a girl. Technically she was still a minor, so for the sake of completeness I have included a photo from Last Christmas in this article. I wonder if Rika thought it was ironic that the business which saved her from being sold to a brothel was abolished by a law that in its title claimed to oppose “Acts Related to Child Prostitution”.

Yasushi Rikitake – Rika Nishimura in Last Christmas (1999)

Ludmila Šechtlová, Model for a Photographer and a Sculptor

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My language is English, so I initially had some confusion about the Czech names. The model’s legal first name is Ludmila, but in the titles for the photographs she is called Lída, Lidy, Liduška, and Lidušky. These photo titles are from the Šechtl & Voseček Museum site, operated by the Šechtl family, so I have no doubt that they are correct. Lída is a diminutive nickname for Ludmila. Ludmila’s grandfather originally spelled the family surname as “Schächtl”, the German form of the name. Later he began using the Czech spelling “Šechtl”. The feminine of Šechtl is Šechtlová. J.V. Dušek is the most common form of the name of the sculptor for whom she modeled, but in three of the photo titles Lída is identified as the model of J.V. Duška. Dušek and Duška are different forms of the same name.

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Rodinné, Liduška (1915)

Lída also modeled for her father, the renowned photographer Josef Jindřich Šechtl. Josef Jindřich’s father, Ignác Schächtl, opened his photography studio in 1876 in the town of Tábor, now in the Czech Republic. Schächtl Studio became Schächtl & Voseček when Jan Voseček became a partner, and later it became Šechtl & Voseček Studio. Josef Jindřich Šechtl operated the studio after the death of his father in 1911. Photos from the Šechtl & Voseček Studio of another model, Eva Záhořová, were featured on Pigtails here.

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Lída Šechtlová (1919)

Josef Jindřich was one of the outstanding photographers of his time. He was known for his use of light and shadow in his photographic art. Photographs of women and children, and photos documenting the history of Tábor were his specialties. (The historical photos would later get his son sent to prison.) Josef Jindřich married Anna Stocká in 1911 and their daughter, Ludmila Šechtlová was born in 1912. Anna, like Josef, was artistically inclined. The two were friends with other artists, including the sculptor Jan Vítězslav Dušek, who was also a resident of Tábor.

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Liduška (1919)

Many childhood photographs of Ludmila may be found on the Šechtl & Voseček Museum site. A few are included in this post. The first photo is of Ludmila at age two or three. The new clothing, willow branches, rabbit figurine and artificial egg indicate that this was an Easter portrait of Ludmila. Rodinné means “family”, and Liduška could either be her nickname or a Czech word for a human. Ludmila was six or seven when the next two photographs were taken.

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Lída Šechtlová, model pro J.V.Duška (1921) (1)

The last five photographs of Ludmila in this article, all nudes, were taken in 1921, when Ludmila was eight or nine. In three of these five photos, she is proudly named as the model for J.V. Duška. She was also the daughter of the photographer, but perhaps it was more prestigious to say that she was the model for a famous sculptor. In the first of these Ludmila is posed between two stands; her pigtails are supported by one stand and her hands by the other. I get the idea, but I am not sure of this, that the stands would allow her to hold a pose for a longer time when modeling for a sculptor. She appears to me to be a bit like the girl on the banner illustration for Pigtails in Paint. The other four nude photos show her posing without any props. Several other photographs like these, with only minor variations to her pose, are in the Šechtl & Voseček Museum.

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Lída Šechtlová model pro J.V.Duška (1921) (2)

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Lída Šechtlová,model pro J.V.Duška (1921) (3)

The last illustration in this article is a photograph of a statue modeled by Ludmila Šechtlová, sculpted by Jan Vítězslav Dušek, and photographed by David Peltán. The statue of a girl holding a beehive is titled Spořivost, which means thrift. Dušek created this statue for the Tábor Savings Bank. Dušek was one of the most prominent Czech sculptors. He is famous for his monuments, portraits, and for his competition as an artist in the 1924 and 1936 Olympic Games.

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Akt Lidušky (1921)

Spořivost portrays Ludmila as slightly older than she appears in the photographs in which she is identified as “model pro J.V.Duška”. There may be another statue of Ludmila by Dušek, made when Ludmila was younger, but in searching for Dušek’s works on the internet, I could not find it.

Josef Jindřich Šechtl – Akt Lidy Šechtlové (1921)

Josef Jindřich Šechtl died in 1954, and Ludmila’s brother Josef Šechtl inherited the family business. In 1957 the Communist government of Czechoslovakia put Josef Šechtl in prison for a year and confiscated his belongings. The excuse was that he photographed a wedding without obtaining the correct government permit, but the probable real reason was that some people in the Communist Party in 1957 had been supporters of the National Socialist Workers (Nazi) Party during World War II. They believed that the historical photographs documenting Tábor during the war could be embarrassing if the photos gave evidence that they were Nazis, and therefore wanted to confiscate and destroy them. Josef Šechtl’s wife, Marie Šechtlová, was able to save some of the most important negatives, but the majority were lost. It is sad to contemplate what may have been in the art that was destroyed.

Jan Vítězslav Dušek – Spořivost (c1925)

Happy Easter

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Girls often appear on antique Easter greeting cards from around the world. Rejoice at Easter-Tide was commissioned by the J.W. LeMaistre Company as a trade card. As with all cards in this post, Rejoice at Easter-Tide is not dated and no artist is credited. J.W. LeMaistre went out of business in 1897, so the card cannot be any later than that. All cards in this post appear to be of the late 19th or early 20th centuries. Of five children dancing around a giant Easter egg, only one is a token boy. Cards illustrated here all have images of girls, because Pigtails is about girls in art. However, of the hundreds of cards that were viewed in order to select a few to publish here, girls were very common, and boys were rare. Something about girls seems to make them the natural choice for Easter cards.

Unknown – Rejoice at Easter-Tide (no date)

Although Easter is now celebrated as the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, the secular aspects of the holiday are derived from ancient pre-Christian spring holidays. The name “Easter” is derived from the name of the pagan goddess Eostre, the patron deity of flowers and fertility. In Italy she was known as Flora, and her holiday, the Floralia, was celebrated with exhibitions of women dancing nude. I have not found any reference to young girls participating in Floralia during pagan times. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, in Christian Anglo-Saxon England little girls performed erotic dances at Easter. Today neither women nor girls perform the dances, but girls are still dominant in the now completely non-erotic holiday.

Unknown – A Happy Easter (no date)

Unknown – Easter Joy Attend You (no date)

A Happy Easter shows two girls in new fancy clothes with flowers and a rabbit. The tradition of new clothes for Easter may be a reason girls appear much more than boys on Easter cards. Girls enjoy dressing up in fancy clothes more than boys do. A Happy Easter is from an English-speaking country, but which country is not known.

Unknown – Easter Wishes (no date)

Unknown – Häid ülestõusmisepühi (no date)

Easter Joy Attend You has the typical Easter subjects: a girl in elegant dress, willow catkins, and an egg. Surprisingly, the theme of a girl emerging from a giant egg, as in this card, was fairly common. Easter Wishes has all of these symbols of Easter, but in a photograph.

Unknown – Easter Card from Norway (no date) (1)

Unknown – Easter Card from Norway (no date) (2)

Unknown – Easter Card from Norway (no date) (3)

In the Estonian language, häid ülestõusmispühi means happy Easter. Easter cards from the Anglosphere, Estonia, Norway, and France are remarkably similar. The next three cards are from the National Library of Norway. Girls in ornate clothing, willow branches, rabbits, and eggs are featured on the cards, and on one a girl is emerging from a big egg.  The second card from Norway shows a basket of what appear to be artificial eggs that can be opened like the egg in the last card from France.

9- Unknown – Joyeuses Pâques (no date)

Unknown – Pâques (1905) (1)

Unknown – Pâques (1905) (2)

Unknown – Mlle Printemps (no date)

The last four cards are from France. None are dated, but dates for two of them can be estimated from the post marks. Joyeuses Pâques is unusual in that instead of a rabbit, the girl wears a cap with rabbit ears. Some French cards show a girl breaking out of an egg, like the girls in Easter Joy Attend You and the second card from Norway. In Mlle Printemps the girl does not break the egg, because the egg is in two parts so she can open it. The caption translates into English as, “Miss Spring probably wants to prove the saying wrong: ‘in April, don’t remove a thread!'” The French dictum means that April weather is unpredictable, so don’t remove your heavy winter clothing yet.

Girls on Turtles

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The first illustration in this article is Will O’The Wisp located at the end of the Colonnade Garden at Oakhurst in Muncie, Indiana. The sculpture shows a girl standing on the back of a snapping turtle. According to visitmuncie.org, the back of the shell is signed, “Edward Borse, Sc, Gorham Co., GFC Foundries.” The statue is owned by Ball State University. I am assuming that “Sc” is an abbreviation for “sculptor” and that Gorham Co. is the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island. A will o’the wisp is a glow in the air over marshy ground that disappears when approached, and is used metaphorically to mean a goal that cannot be achieved.

Edward Berge – Will O’The Wisp (no date)

When I saw the photograph of this statue, I searched for more information about the statue or the sculptor, but could find nothing.  After this article was published I discovered that the attribution to Edward Borse is an error; the actual sculptor is Edward Berge.  The caption has been corrected.

Some general information about works of art with girls or women standing on turtles was found. Phidias (circa 480 – 420 BC) may have been the first sculptor to create a statue of a female standing on a turtle. His gold and ivory statue of the goddess Aphrodite depicts her with one foot on a small turtle. Plutarch (circa AD 46 – after 119) commented on the statue, and wrote that because a turtle is always at home in its shell, and has no voice, it represents the ideal woman who always remains at home and does not speak. Apparently Plutarch was not a feminist. This interpretation of the turtle is suspect because Aphrodite was a sexually adventurous goddess, the opposite of a quiet homebody. Others have speculated that the turtle may have been used sarcastically. I find the statue Aprodite with a small turtle under one foot reminiscent of statues of the Virgin Mary with a small serpent under one foot. Just as these statues of Mary represent her victory over the evil represented by the serpent, perhaps Phidias’ statue is meant to show Aphrodite crushing underfoot the stereotype for the “ideal woman” represented by the turtle.

Unknown – Illustration from On the Excellence of the Female Sex (1643)

Plutarch’s interpretation seems to have influenced later artists, and it is common to find depictions that were created during the Renaissance and later, through the 18th century, of women on turtles. The example shown here is an illustration from On the Excellence of the Female Sex by Johan van Beverwijck. Now it is obvious that the woman is not trampling on the turtle, but rather is riding it. In this illustration from 1643 the female on the turtle is still an adult, but in later examples of this motif it is usually a child on the turtle. Some modern statues show a boy on a turtle, but a girl is more common.

Beatrice Fenton – The Artist and Seaweed Fountain (circa 1920)

Beatrice Fenton – Seaweed Fountain at Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina (circa 1920)

Seaweed Fountain by Beatrice Fenton is one of the most famous statues of a young girl on a turtle. Beatrice Fenton (1887 – 1983) was one of the outstanding American sculptors of the early 20th century. Fenton was awarded the George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal in 1922 for Seaweed Fountain.  Mary Wilson Wallace was the model for Seaweed Fountain; she was six years old when she posed for it.

Unknown – Girl Standing on a Turtle (no date)

Girl Standing on a Turtle was for sale at the Chamberlain Auction Gallery in 2020. This 57-inch high bronze scupture is a fountain; water comes out of the shell the girl holds, and also out of the turtle’s mouth.

Unknown – Tortoise Shell Express (no date)

Tortoise Shell Express is a cast stone statue sold by Garden-Fountains. Strangely, the sculptor is not named. The girl stands on a land tortoise. Seaweed Fountain and Girl Standing on a Turtle are both sea turtles, and Will O’The Wisp is a fresh water snapping turtle. I cannot identify the species of turtle in Illustration from On the Excellence of the Female Sex, but apparently it makes no difference.

Oskar Bottoli – Mädchen auf einer Schildkröte (1954)

Mädchen auf einer Schildkröte is a stone sculpture by Oskar Bottoli and is on display in Vienna, Austria. The girl sits on a land tortoise.

A Figure Study by Muirhead Bone

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Muirhead Bone studied architecture as a young man in the 1890s, and afterwards began studying painting and drawing. Bone used a realistic style in drawings, etchings, and watercolors of landscapes and buildings, including buildings under construction and ruins of demolished buildings. In 1900 he gave art classes in Ayr, Scotland. He was appointed as a British War Artist in 1916 to create propaganda for the war effort in World War I. He was knighted in 1937

Muirhead Bone – Little Girl Nude (no date)

Little Girl Nude is one of over 570 of Bone’s work in the Boston Public Library. Bone delighted in complex drawings of landscapes, machines, and architecture. He did drawings of people less often, and this is the only one I could find in the Boston Public Library collection, or in image searches, that would be appropriate for Pigtails.

At the bottom of the drawing Bone wrote his name, the note “Life Class”, and an illegible note in parentheses. An advertisement for the art classes that Muirhead Bone operated in Ayr said that life classes are included in the instruction; this drawing may be from one of those classes.