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Article by Marijn Kruijff

Shunga, literally “Images of Spring”, is the generic term used to describe erotic prints, books, scrolls and paintings of Japan.

As a dealer of Japanese woodblock prints and shunga in particular I have come accross numerous striking and evocative designs. The following 10 shunga designs appeal to me and are in no typical order. These prints I saw in books, on auctions and in private collections.

(Here you can find the pictures of the 10 Japanese erotic woodblock designs treated in this article!)

Underwater Assault – Utamaro

This design is the first print from Utamaro’s excellent Uta-makura (Poem of the Pillow) -series published in 1788 and depicts a complex scene with a awabi (abalone) diver watching two kappa (underwater monsters) assaulting a colleague under water. This apparent rape scene is in reality the woman’s own fantasie imagining a violent sexual encounter. Also the tightly curled (for the Japanese an expression of high sexual excitement) indicates this is not a rape scene. (Illustrated in Strangers in Paradise – R. Lane on p.14, Ill.131)

Lesbian Love – Eiri

From Eiri’s magnificent Models of Calligraphy published in 1801 an exciting female-female love scene with one of the women (the younger one) wearing a harigata (artificial phallus) and holding a holding a sea shell containing some kind of lubricant. The viewer is struck by the refined beauty reminiscencing the erotic art of ancient Greece. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies – C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.147, Ill.49c)

Aphrodisiac Fluid – Shigenobu

An extraordinary and extreme scene from Shigenobu’s Willow Storm-series (late 1820s) involving a Chinese Couple. The man with his plait curled on top of his shaven head is extracting fluid from the woman’s vagina. In his book Sex and the Floating World Timon Screech remarks that Keisai Eisen wrote that such fluids were used as an aphrodisiac and rubbed onto the male’s genitals before intercourse. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies – C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.177, Ill.65b)

Demon – Shigenobu

From Shigenobu’s same marvellous Willow Storm -series a depiction of a Western couple. What’s so unique and striking about this design are the Western influences imitating the shading effects of Western copperplate etching. The Western man is represented as a demon like figure. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies – C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.177, Ill.65c)

Two Lovers in a Tea House – Utamaro

Probably the most acclaimed oban (large format) print within shunga from Utamaro’s masterpiece Poem of the Pillow -series depicting two lovers in a private room in a teahouse. The high-quality printing technique, the elegant flowing lines, the composition and the subtle details such as the transparency of the clothing make this one of the most coveted prints. It is whispered that the male lover in this abuna-e (non-explicit print) is actually Utamaro himself. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies – C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.130, Ill.39)

Charcoal Sticks – Kiyonaga

Kiyonaga’s Sleeve Scroll (Sode no maki) -series (c.1785) is another highlight of the shunga genre with its unique horizontal hashira-e (pillar print) sized prints. One of the scenes involves a peasant girl and her lover caught in a moment of ecstacy. The girl resting her head on a bundle of charcoal sticks, with her toes curled in sexual bliss. (Illustrated in Vol.24 of The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga – R. Lane)

Masked Man – Harunobu

The sixth plate in ‘The Fashionable Lusty Maneemon’ series (c.1770) by Harunobu depicts an intriguing scene in the open air with a peasant girl being taken from behind by a man wearing a mask. Her parents are watching while the man claims he is a descendant of Inari, the god of rice. Maneemon also called ‘Miniature Man’ or ‘Imitation Man’ who’s the main protagonist in this series is a comic mythical character who sits relaxed under a tree on his straw hat. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Prints, Shunga by Harunobu & Koryusai – Inge Klompmakers on p.65)

Egg – Hokusai

A scene with a totally nude couple in a soixante-neuf position in a perfectly balanced composition. This print is from Hokusai’s most celebrated oban series Fukujuso (The Adonis Plant) and is so distinguishing because of the large scale of the portrayed figures. Some shunga lovers call this image the ‘Egg’.(Illustrated in Vol.23 of The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga – R. Lane)

Nagasaki Brothel – Eiri

A striking depicition of a Dutch captain having intercourse with a beautiful courtesan. They are watched (by the viewer) through a window of a Nagasaki brothel. Behind them on a small table an incense burns in a vessel. This specific detail is on a lot of shunga designs depiciting this theme and it is said this use of incense burning by courtesans was to drive away the smell of their Western clients. The long fingernails of the Dutchman are also a striking detail. Dutch women were not allowed to live in Nagasaki but Japanese courtesans were permitted to enter the compounds. Eiri’s Models of Calligraphy was inspired by Utamaro’s Poem of the Pillow which also includes a Dutch couple. (Illustrated in Vol.24 of The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga – R. Lane)

Octopus Ecstacy – Hokusai

Last but definitely not least the most famous of all shunga designs best known as The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wifefrom Hokusai’s Young Pine Saplings (Kinoe no komatsu)-series. A depiction of an abalone diver abandoned in an ecstatic embrace with two octopuses. For a long time collectors and scholars thought this infinitely fascinating scene to be a rape scene but this has been refuted by Danielle Talerico who discovered that an Edo audience would have associated the image with the legend of Tamatori. Also the text in the image indicates the mutual satisfaction between all involved protagonists. (You can find numerous pictures of this print on the internet!)

von Ken Lund

Article by Marijn Kruijff

Introduction

From all the subjects and themes within shunga (Japanese erotic prints, books and paintings) probably the most coveted are the prints depicting female-female love. In the treatment of the following ten lesbian oriented shunga designs in this article there are two prints included (the first and the last) which are more suggestive and less explicit but in my opinion, with their eye for female beauty and comical detail, a true addition to this specific theme.

Kuniyoshi – Grooming Scene

A comical image depicting a dressing room in a brothel with the activities of five courtesans joking around with one of their sleeping colleagues. Look for the chagrined facial expression of the courtesan on the left who is grooming her mons veneris. This design from the 1840s displays Kuniyoshi’s comic genius in full effect.

Hokusai – Entangled

From Hokusai’s classic shunga ehon (book) series Kinoe no komatsu (Young Pine Saplings) published in 1814, which also includes his famous Octopus design, a passionate lesbian encounter between two young women. They are in a very tight embrace with the girl below in an almost ecstatic pose. The girl on top is wearing a harigata(dildo). The wrinkled undergarment was Hokusai’s beloved detail he used in his shunga work.

Eiri – Lubricant

Probably the most famous lesbian scene in shunga from Eiri’s excellent oban series Models of Calligraphyconsisting of 12 designs. One of the girls is wearing a huge harigata, which is held by the other girl, while she’s using a lubricant to put on the artificial phallus. Due to its controversial impact at the time (1801) this lesbian shunga scene was omitted from later editions.

Kuniyoshi – Kabuki Mask

A highly unusual lesbian design with the girl on top wearing a kabuki-mask pretending she’s the favourite kabuki actor (a Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp of their day) the other girl is fantasizing about. Two amused women are peeking through a small hole in a sliding door.

Eizan – Lesbian Girl Taken From Behind

In a confined setting two lesbian lovers are having sex. The girl underneath is in an excited state while the girl on top uses the dildo to penetrate her from behind. The on-looking cat is comic detail often used in shunga. (especially by Hokusai and Kuniyoshi)

Eisen – Double-Sided Dildo

Two girls enjoying themselves using a double-sided dildo. In this design both faces of the female protagonists are hidden.

Kuniyoshi – Old Woman

An older woman uses a rather unorthodox way of introducing a young girl into her adult life by grapping her vagina. The shungabooks behind them and the erotic scroll in front of them emphasize the preceeding visual education. A design from a shungabook series by Kuniyoshi, published in the 1840s.

Hokusai – Sea-Cucumber

Two awabi (abalone) divers are caught in an intimate moment in this marvellous work of art by Hokusai (dated 1810s). One of the girls uses a sea-cucumber, as a improvised dildo, with the sea in the background as their silent witness.Awabior Amadiver was (and is) a profession practised by women who dive for pearls.

Shuncho – Tortoise Shell Dildo

This print by Shuncho (published around 1800) has a striking use of color combination with beautiful green accents. The decoration on the folding screen behind this loving lesbian couple gives it a very realistic feel as if they are actually in the open-air. The girl on top is sporting a deluxe tortoise-shell harigata and both are wearing transparant hair ribbons. In the past this print has been falsely attributed to Utamaro.

Kunisada – Awabi Divers at the Sea Shore

In this last shunga print, from an abuna-e (dangerous or risque pictures) like style book designed by Kunisada in c.1840, an image with a more suggestive lesbian undertone. Depicted are four awabidivers fishing for pearls at the sea shore. One of them is holding a knife (for opening the oysters) between her teeth while wringing out her dress while two others are drying themselves near a fire. The pearl diver diving into the waves is beautifully counterbalanced with the breaking waves on the rocks making it such a dynamic scene.

Click here to check out the illustrations of these 10 lesbian erotic woodblock prints!

von Ken Lund

Shunga, literally “Images of Spring”, is the generic term used to describe erotic prints, books, scrolls and paintings of Japan.

As a dealer of Japanese woodblock prints and shunga in particular I have come accross numerous striking and evocative designs. The following 10 shunga designs appeal to me for different reasons and are in no typical order. These prints I saw in books, on auctions and in private collections.  

This design is the first print from Utamaro’s excellent Uta-makura (Poem of the Pillow) -series published in 1788 and depicts a complex scene with a awabi (abalone) diver watching two kappa (underwater monsters) assaulting a colleague under water. This apparent rape scene is in reality the woman’s own fantasie imagining a violent sexual encounter. Also the tightly curled (for the Japanese an expression of high sexual excitement) indicates this is not a rape scene. (Illustrated in Strangers in Paradise – R. Lane on p.14, Ill.131)    

From Eiri’s magnificent Models of Calligraphy published in 1801 an exciting female-female love scene with one of the women (the younger one) wearing a harigata (artificial phallus) and holding a holding a sea shell containing some kind of lubricant. The viewer is struck by the refined beauty reminiscencing the erotic art of ancient Greece. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies - C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.147, Ill.49c)    

An extraordinary and extreme scene from Shigenobu’s Willow Storm -series (late 1820s) involving a Chinese Couple. The man with his plait curled on top of his shaven head is extracting fluid from the woman’s vagina. In his book Sex and the Floating World Timon Screech remarks that Keisai Eisen wrote that such fluids were used as an aphrodisiac and rubbed onto the male’s genitals before intercourse. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies - C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.177, Ill.65b)    

From Shigenobu’s same marvellous Willow Storm -series a depiction of a Western couple. What’s so unique and striking about this design are the Western influences imitating the shading effects of Western copperplate etching. The Western man is represented as a demon like figure. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies - C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.177, Ill.65c)    

Probably the most acclaimed oban (large format) print within shunga from Utamaro’s masterpiece Poem of the Pillow -series depicting two lovers in a private room in a teahouse. The high-quality printing technique, the elegant flowing lines, the composition and the subtle details such as the transparency of the clothing make this one of the most coveted prints. It is whispered that the male lover in this abuna-e (non-explicit print) is actually Utamaro himself. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Fantasies - C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel on p.130, Ill.39)    

Kiyonaga’s Sleeve Scroll (Sode no maki) -series (c.1785) is another highlight of the shunga genre with its unique horizontal hashira-e (pillar print) sized prints. One of the scenes involves a peasant girl and her lover caught in a moment of ecstacy. The girl resting her head on a bundle of charcoal sticks, with her toes curled in sexual bliss. (Illustrated in Vol.24 of The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga - R. Lane)

The sixth plate in ‘The Fashionable Lusty Maneemon’ series (c.1770) by Harunobu depicts an intriguing scene in the open air with a peasant girl being taken from behind by a man wearing a mask. Her parents are watching while the man claims he is a descendant of Inari, the god of rice. Maneemon also called ’Miniature Man’ or ‘Imitation Man’ who’s the main protagonist in this series is a comic mythical character who sits relaxed under a tree on his straw hat. (Illustrated in Japanese Erotic Prints, Shunga by Harunobu & Koryusai - Inge Klompmakers on p.65)  

A scene with a totally nude couple in a soixante-neuf position in a perfectly balanced composition. This print is from Hokusai’s most celebrated oban series Fukujuso (The Adonis Plant) and is so distinguishing because of the large scale of the portrayed figures. Some shunga lovers call this image the ‘Egg’. (Illustrated in Vol.23 of The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga - R. Lane)    

A striking depicition of a Dutch captain having intercourse with a beautiful courtesan. They are watched (by the viewer) through a window of a Nagasaki brothel. Behind them on a small table an incense burns in a vessel. This specific detail is on a lot of shunga designs depiciting this theme and it is said this use of incense burning by courtesans was to drive away the smell of their Western clients. The long fingernails of the Dutchman are also a striking detail. Dutch women were not allowed to live in Nagasaki but Japanese courtesans were permitted to enter the compounds. Eiri’s Models of Calligraphy was inspired by Utamaro’s Poem of the Pillow which also has a Dutch couple. (Illustrated in Vol.24 of The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga - R. Lane)

Last but definitely not least the most famous of all shunga designs best known as The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife from Hokusai’s Young Pine Saplings (Kinoe no komatsu) -series. A depiction of an abalone diver abandoned in an ecstatic embrace with two octopuses. For a long time collectors and scholars thought this infinitely fascinating scene to be a rape scene but this has been refuted by Danielle Talerico who discovered that an Edo audience would have associated the image with the legend of Tamatori. Also the text in the image indicates the mutual satisfaction between all involved protagonists. (You can find numerous pictures of this print on the web!)