is a type of
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
erotic art
Erotic art is a broad field of the visual arts that includes any Work of art, artistic work intended to evoke Sexual arousal, erotic arousal. It usually depicts human nudity or sexual activity, and has included works in various visual mediums, ...
typically executed as a kind of
ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...
, often in
woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted
handscroll
The handscroll is a long, narrow, horizontal scroll format in East Asia used for calligraphy or paintings. A handscroll usually measures up to several meters in length and around 25–40 cm in height. Handscrolls are generally viewed starting ...
s which predate ukiyo-e.
Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga'' means ''picture of spring''; "spring" is a common euphemism for sex.
Shunga, as a subset of ukiyo-e, was enjoyed by all social groups in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, despite being out of favor with the
shogunate
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
. The ukiyo-e movement sought to idealize contemporary urban living and appeal to the new
chōnin
was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period. In the social hierarchy, it was considered subordinate to the samurai warrior class.
Social Class
The ''chōnin'' emerged in ''joka-machi'' or castle ...
class. Shunga followed the aesthetics of everyday life and widely varied in its depictions of sexuality. Most ukiyo-e artists made shunga at some point in their careers.
History
![Couple in Winter Shunga by Suzuki Harunobu c1770](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Couple_in_Winter_Shunga_by_Suzuki_Harunobu_c1770.jpg)
Shunga was heavily influenced by illustrations in
Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...
manuals beginning in the
Muromachi
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...
era (1336 to 1573).
Zhou Fang, a notable
Tang-dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
Chinese painter, is also thought to have been influential. He, like many artists of his time, tended to draw genital organs in an oversized manner, similar to a common shunga
topos
In mathematics, a topos (, ; plural topoi or , or toposes) is a category that behaves like the category of sheaves of sets on a topological space (or more generally: on a site). Topoi behave much like the category of sets and possess a notion ...
. Besides "''shunga''" literally meaning a picture of spring (sex), the word is also a contraction of ''shunkyū-higi-ga'' (春宮秘戯画), the
Japanese pronunciation
The phonology of Japanese features about 15 consonant phonemes, the cross-linguistically typical five-vowel system of , and a relatively simple phonotactic distribution of phonemes allowing few consonant clusters. It is traditionally described ...
for a Chinese set of twelve scrolls depicting the twelve sexual acts that the
crown prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
would perform as an expression of
yin yang
Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...
.
The Japanese influences of shunga date back to the
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
(794 to 1185). At this point, it was found among the
courtier
A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...
class. Through the medium of narrative
handscrolls
The handscroll is a long, narrow, horizontal scroll format in East Asia used for calligraphy or paintings. A handscroll usually measures up to several meters in length and around 25–40 cm in height. Handscrolls are generally viewed starting ...
, sexual scandals from the
imperial court or the
monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
were depicted, and the characters tended to be limited to courtiers and
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s.
The style reached its height in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
(1603 to 1867). Thanks to
woodblock printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
techniques, the quantity and quality increased dramatically.
There were repeated governmental attempts to suppress shunga, the first of which was an edict issued by the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
in 1661 banning, among other things, erotic books known as (literally "lewdness books"). While other genres covered by the edict, such as works criticising ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
s'' or
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
, were driven underground by this edict, shunga continued to be produced with little difficulty.
![1703 Torii Kiyonobu I Woodblock Shunga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/1703_Torii_Kiyonobu_I_Woodblock_Shunga.jpg)
The
Kyōhō Reforms
The were an array of economic and cultural policies introduced by the Tokugawa shogunate between 1722–1730 during the Edo period to improve its political and social status. These reforms were instigated by the eighth Tokugawa ''shōgun'' of Ja ...
, a 1722 edict, was much more strict, banning the production of all new books unless the city commissioner gave permission. After this edict, shunga went underground. However, since for several decades following this edict, publishing
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
s saw fit to send their members repeated reminders not to sell
erotica
Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...
, it seems probable that production and sales continued to flourish.
Further attempts to prevent the production of shunga were made with the Kansei Reforms under
Emperor Kōkaku
was the 119th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')光格天皇 (119)/ref> Kōkaku reigned from 16 December 1780 until his abdication on 7 May 1817 in favor of his son, Empe ...
in the 1790s.
According to Monta Hayakawa and C. Andrew Gerstle, westerners during the nineteenth century were less appreciative of shunga because of its erotic nature.
In the journal of
Francis Hall, an American businessperson who arrived in Yokohama in 1859, he described shunga as "vile pictures executed in the best style Japanese art."
Hayakawa stated that Hall was shocked and disgusted when on two occasions his Japanese acquaintances and their wives showed him shunga at their homes.
Shunga also faced problems in Western museums in the twentieth century; Peter Webb reported that while engaged in research for a 1975 publication, he was initially informed that no relevant material existed in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, and when finally allowed access to it, he was told that it "could not possibly be exhibited to the public" and had not been catalogued. In 2014 he revisited the museum, which had an exhibition entirely of shunga "proudly displayed".
![Shunga uniform 1905](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Shunga_uniform_1905.jpg)
The introduction of Western culture and technologies at the beginning of the
Meiji era (1868–1912), particularly the importation of photo-reproduction techniques, had serious consequences for shunga. For a time,
woodblock printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
continued to be used, but figures began to appear in prints wearing Western clothing and hairstyles. Eventually, shunga could no longer compete with erotic photography, leading to its decline.
The art of shunga provided an inspiration for the
Shōwa (1926–1989) and
Heisei
The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...
(1989–2019) art in
Japanese video games
Video games are a major industry in Japan. Japanese game development is often identified with the golden age of video games, including Nintendo under Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroshi Yamauchi, Sega during the same time period, Sony Computer Ent ...
,
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
and
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
known in the Western world as
hentai
Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...
and known formally in Japan as ''jū hachi kin'' (adult-only, literally "18-restricted"). Like shunga, hentai is sexually explicit in its imagery.
Uses
![Shunga-Keisai_Eisen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Shunga-Keisai_Eisen.jpg)
Shunga was probably enjoyed by both men and women of all classes. Superstitions and customs surrounding shunga suggest as much; in the same way that it was considered a lucky charm against death for a samurai to carry shunga, it was considered a protection against fire in
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
warehouses and the home. From this we can deduce that samurai, chonin, and housewives all owned shunga. All three of these groups would suffer separation from the opposite sex; the samurai lived in barracks for months at a time, and conjugal separation resulted from the ''
sankin-kōtai
''Sankin-kōtai'' ( ja, 参覲交代/参覲交替, now commonly written as ja, 参勤交代/参勤交替, lit=alternate attendance, label=none) was a policy of the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history.Jansen, M ...
'' system and the merchants' need to travel to obtain and sell goods. It is therefore argued that this ownership of shunga was not superstitious, but libidinous.
Records of women obtaining shunga themselves from booklenders show that they were consumers of it.
Though not shunga, it was traditional to present a bride with ukiyo-e depicting scenes from the
Tale of Genji
Tale may refer to:
* Narrative, or story, a report of real or imaginary connected events
* TAL effector (TALE), a type of DNA binding protein
* Tale, Albania, a resort town
* Tale, Iran, a village
* Tale, Maharashtra, a village in Ratnagiri distri ...
.
Shunga may have served as sexual guidance for the sons and daughters of wealthy families. The instructional purpose has been questioned since the instructional value of shunga is limited by the impossible positions and lack of description of technique, and there were sexual manuals in circulation that offered clearer guidance, including advice on hygiene.
Shunga varied greatly in quality and price. Some were highly elaborate, commissioned by wealthy merchants and ''daimyōs'', while some were limited in colour, widely available, and cheap.
Empon were available through the lending libraries, or
kashi-honya, that travelled in rural areas. This tells us that shunga reached all classes of society—peasant, ''chōnin'', samurai and ''daimyōs''.
Production
![Meiji Period Shunga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Meiji_Period_Shunga.jpg)
Shunga were produced between the sixteenth century and the nineteenth century by ukiyo-e artists, since they sold more easily and at a higher price than their ordinary work. Shunga prints were produced and sold either as single sheets or—more frequently—in book form, called ''enpon''. These customarily contained twelve images, a tradition with its roots in Chinese shunkyu higa. Shunga was also produced in
hand scroll
The handscroll is a long, narrow, horizontal scroll format in East Asia used for calligraphy or paintings. A handscroll usually measures up to several meters in length and around 25–40 cm in height. Handscrolls are generally viewed startin ...
format, called
kakemono-e __NOTOC__
A , more commonly referred to as a , is a Japanese hanging scroll used to display and exhibit paintings and calligraphy inscriptions and designs mounted usually with silk fabric edges on a flexible backing, so that it can be rolled fo ...
(掛け物絵). This format was also popular, though more expensive as the scrolls had to be individually painted.
The quality of shunga art varies, and few
ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...
painters remained aloof from the genre. Experienced artists found it to their advantage to concentrate on their production. This led to the appearance of ''shunga'' by renowned artists, such as the ''ukiyo-e'' painter perhaps best known in the Western world,
Hokusai
, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the ...
(see ''
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife
, also known as ''Girl Diver and Octopi'', ''Diver and Two Octopi'', etc., is a woodblock-printed design by the Japanese artist Hokusai. It is included in ('Young Pines'), a three-volume book of erotica first published in 1814, and has become ...
'' from the series ). Ukiyo-e artists owed a stable livelihood to such customs, and producing a piece of ''shunga'' for a high-ranking client could bring them sufficient funds to live on for about six months. Among others, the world-famous Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama uses his special hand brush painting technique and hanko stamp signature method in the late 20th and early 21st centuries to create modern day shunga art in the same tradition of the past artists like Hokusai.
Full-colour printing, or
nishiki-e
is a type of Japanese multi-coloured woodblock printing; the technique is used primarily in ukiyo-e. It was invented in the 1760s, and perfected and popularized by the printmaker Suzuki Harunobu, who produced many ''nishiki-e'' prints between 1 ...
, developed around 1765, but many ''shunga'' prints predate this. Prior to this, colour was added to monochrome prints by hand, and from 1744
benizuri-e
are a type of "primitive" ''ukiyo-e'' style Japanese woodblock prints. They were usually printed in pink (''beni'') and green, occasionally with the addition of another color, either printed or added by hand.
The production of ''benizuri-e'' r ...
allowed the production of prints of limited colours. Even after 1765 many shunga prints were produced using older methods. In some cases this was to keep the cost low, but in many cases this was a matter of taste.
Shunga produced in
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
tended to be more richly coloured than those produced in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
and
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
, mainly owing to a difference in aesthetic taste between these regions—Edo has a taste for novelty and luxury, while the
kamigata
Kamigata (上方) was the colloquial term for a region today called Kansai (''kan'', barrier; ''sai'', west) in Japan. This large area encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. The term is used particularly when discussing elements of Edo ...
region preferred a more muted, understated style. This also translates into a greater amount of background detail in
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
Shunga.
After 1722 most artists refrained from signing shunga works. However, between 1761 and 1786 the implementation of printing regulations became more relaxed, and many artists took to concealing their name as a feature of the picture (such as calligraphy on a fan held by a courtesan) or allusions in the work itself (such as
Utamaro
Kitagawa Utamaro ( ja, 喜多川 歌麿; – 31 October 1806) was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed ...
's empon entitled ''
Utamakura
is a rhetorical concept in Japanese poetry.
Definition
is a category of poetic words, often involving place names, that allow for greater allusions and intertextuality across Japanese poems.
enables poets to express ideas and themes concisel ...
'').
Content
Edo period shunga sought to express a varied world of contemporary sexual possibilities. Some writers on the subject refer to this as the creation of a world parallel to contemporary urban life, but idealised, eroticised and fantastical.
Characters
![Client Lubricating a Male Prostitute Shunga by Kitagawa Utamaro 1790s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Client_Lubricating_a_Male_Prostitute_Shunga_by_Kitagawa_Utamaro_1790s.png)
By far the majority of shunga depict the sexual relations of the ordinary people, the ''chōnin'', the townsmen, women, merchant class, artisans and farmers. Occasionally there also appear
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
or
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
foreigners.
Courtesans
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other ...
also form the subject of many shunga.
Utamaro
Kitagawa Utamaro ( ja, 喜多川 歌麿; – 31 October 1806) was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed ...
was particularly revered for his depictions of courtesans, which offered an unmatched level of sensitivity and psychological nuance. Tokugawa courtesans could be described as the celebrities of their day, and Edo's pleasure district,
Yoshiwara
was a famous (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shima ...
, is often compared to Hollywood.
Men saw them as highly eroticised due to their profession, but at the same time unattainable, since only the wealthiest, most cultured men would have any chance of sexual relations with one. Women saw them as distant, glamorous idols, and the fashions for the whole of Japan were inspired by the fashions of the courtesan. For these reasons, the fetish of the courtesan appealed to many.
Works depicting courtesans have since been criticised for painting an idealised picture of life in the pleasure quarters. It has been argued that they masked the situation of virtual slavery under which sex workers lived.
However, Utamaro is just one example of an artist who was sensitive to the inner life of the courtesan, for example showing them wistfully dreaming of escape from Yoshiwara through marriage.
Similarly, boys of the
Wakashū
is a historical Japanese term indicating an adolescent boy, used particularly during the Edo period (1603–1867). status was indicated by haircut.
Appearance and ceremonies
properly referred to a boy between the ages at which his head was p ...
age range were considered erotically attractive and often performed the female parts in
kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
productions. Many of them worked as
gigolo
A gigolo () is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship, often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call.
The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifest ...
s. These carried the same fetish of the sex worker, with the added quality of often being quite young. They are often depicted with samurai, since wakashū and older samurai often formed couples with the elder acting as a mentor for the younger.
Stories
![Miyagawa Isshô-Spring Pastimes-F](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Miyagawa_Issh%C3%B4-Spring_Pastimes-F.jpg)
Both painted handscrolls and illustrated erotic books (empon) often presented an unrelated sequence of sexual tableaux, rather than a structured narrative. A whole variety of possibilities are shown—men seduce women, women seduce men; men and women cheat on each other; all ages from virginal teenagers to old married couples; even octopuses were occasionally featured.
While most ''shunga'' were
heterosexual
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
, many depicted
male-on-male trysts.
Woman-on-woman images were less common but there are extant works depicting this.
Masturbation
Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinatio ...
was also depicted. The perception of sexuality differed in Tokugawa Japan from that in the modern
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. , and people were less likely to associate with one particular sexual preference. For this reason the many sexual pairings depicted were a matter of providing as much variety as possible.
The backstory to shunga prints can be found in accompanying text or dialogue in the picture itself, and in props in the background.
Symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
ism also featured widely, such as the use of
plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes.
History
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...
blossom
In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring.
Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...
s to represent virginity or tissues to symbolise impending
ejaculation
Ejaculation is the discharge of semen (the ''ejaculate''; normally containing sperm) from the male reproductory tract as a result of an orgasm. It is the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential componen ...
.
Clothing
![Kiyonaga bathhouse women-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Kiyonaga_bathhouse_women-2.jpg)
In many of the shunga the characters are fully clothed. This is primarily because nudity was not inherently erotic in Tokugawa Japan – people were used to seeing the opposite sex naked in communal baths. It also served an artistic purpose; it helped the reader identify courtesans and foreigners, the prints often contained symbolic meaning, and it drew attention to the parts of the body that were revealed, i.e., the genitalia.
Non-realism
Shunga couples are often shown in nonrealistic positions with exaggerated genitalia. Explanations for this include increased visibility of the sexually explicit content, artistic interest and psychological impact: that is, the genitalia are interpreted as a "second face", expressing the primal passions that the everyday face is obligated by ''
giri'' to conceal, and are therefore the same size as the head and placed unnaturally close to it by the awkward positioning.
See also
*
Ero guro
is an artistic genre that puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption, and decadence.Silverberg, Miriam Rom. "By Way of a Preface: Defining ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense''". Galley copy of the preface for ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass C ...
*
Hentai
Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...
*
History of erotic depictions
The history of erotic depictions includes paintings, sculpture, photographs, dramatic arts, music and writings that show scenes of a sexual nature throughout time. They have been created by nearly every civilization, ancient and modern. Early ...
*
Pornography in Japan
Pornography in Japan has unique characteristics that readily distinguish it from western pornography. Pornographic films are known as " adult videos" (AV) in Japan, so Japanese adult videos are "JAV", referring to the Japanese pornographic ...
References
Further reading
* Rosina Buckland, ''Shunga: Erotic Art in Japan'' (Abrams Press, 2013) ISBN 9781468306989
* Timothy Clark et al. (eds), ''Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art'' (London: British Museum Press, 2013) ISBN 978-0714124766
External links
Shunga: Japanese Erotic Art at the Honolulu Museum of ArtThe Tradition of Japanese Shunga Prints*
{{Authority control
Japanese sex terms
Sexuality in Japan
Ukiyo-e genres
History of art in Japan