- Fig. I.1. Sketches of the faces of blind men and women by prolific Japanese woodblock print artist Katsushika Hokusai. The faces appear to be those of elderly blind people. It was common for sighted people to form their impressions of blindness by observing the physical appearance of a blind person. Hokusai illustrates that blindness is etched onto each face as an identity marker of physical difference and as a brand of impairment. No two faces are alike; each face is imbued with its individuality. The variety suggests the appearances of various degrees of impairment affecting one or both eyes, including visible scars around the eyes, eyelids completely or partially sealed, blank stares, and deformed eyes. The Japanese scripts above include words referring to blindness: ko (blind or blindness), mekura (dark eyes), and akimekura. The kanji characters of akimekura say “internal obstruction”; the accompanying kana characters mean “blind but with clear and normal-looking eyes,” a reference to the medical diagnosis of what are likely cataracts. From Hokusai manga, vol. 8 (Nagoya: Katano Tōshirō, 1878). National Diet Library Digital Collections.
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