Shunga: learn about Japanese erotic art! (Patreon)

Something you never knew about Shunga 

Today I am going to talk to you about Shunga! I`ll cover couple of questions, such as - what is Shunga, where is it coming from, what is the purpose and WHY GENITALS ARE SOOOOO BIG 

What is Shunga? - Shunga  - short and easy description is - Japanese erotic woodblock prints illustrating sexual situations and extra large genitals, part of ukiyo-e (Pictures of the Floating World),  that became wide spread in Edo times. Ukiyo-e itself requires a very long lecture, so here we will not touch this subject and only talk about spicy part of it today. Just remember, that Shunga is a part of ukiyo-e. 

Let`s get started! 

If you are a little bit interested in Japanese culture, you probably have seen this one (fisherman wife’s dream) . This is the most popular example of Shunga by famous Hokusai. 

All famous guys, such as  unlucky kabuki portraitist Sharaku, Utamaro with his beauties (bijin-ga ) , crazy with Fuji Hokusai, made real money only due to producing Shunga. 

It looks like …Edo porn, right? However, it is not only porn and not only Edo. It started in Heian, just was not wide spread at all and unfortunately for researchers and viewers, no heian Shunga survived. 

A little history here 

First hand scrolls of Shunga came to Japan from …guess where ….China, of course. At first they were admired by aristocracy only and were not accessible for masses. 2 

The very first example of Shunga is The Brushwood Fence Scroll. was a handscroll painting depicting erotic encounters between Heian courtiers, painted around 1172 and given to Taira no Tokuko  as a wedding present, on the occasion of her marriage to Emperor Takakura.  

Then comes Chigo no soushi, The book of Acolytes, 

the oldest and most famous Japanese depiction of male-male sexual relations (nanshoku), dated 1321 and preserved at Sanbo-in, Daigo-ji temple, Kyoto. Eighteen scenes of Buddhist acolytes with temple servants or priests; five short ribald narratives; numerous inscribed comments and conversations surrounding the scenes.

This scroll is direct evidence for the practice of affective and sexual relations between mature monks and acolytes, which was quite widespread in Buddhist temples in Japan in the medieval period (sex between monks and women was more strictly forbidden).

Fukuro houshi ekotoba   14th century - priest in the bag

In Edo Period woodblock print technique became really popular, what opened the doors to «mass producing» these images and lowered the prices for books and prints. In 17th century prints of Moronobu were sold in every book shop.

First 100% ADULT BOOKS appeared in 1755, they were printed on yellow paper, that is why they were called 黄表紙 (Literally yellow papers). First one was called "Kinkin sensei eiga no yume» by Koikawa Harumachi. It contained 30 pages of text with pictures. The story was based on a Noh song Kantan. 

popular ukiyo-e shunga was widely available through the extensive network system of lending-libraries (kashihonya). Booklenders would carry new and reprinted shunga books and travel from house to house, and lend them for a relatively inexpensive fee. They were known to always have the most up-to-date shunga books and print series, in response to customer demand. It is thought that in most cases it was the women of the house who received the orders from these book-lenders, as they did for other deliveries, and therefore, we can imagine with confidence that shunga works often first passed through women's hands.

Then in Meiji period, the emperor decided to open the country and welcomed Europeans, he even changed his clothes to western style and made a lot of other adjustments, that we are not focusing on, but what’s important - Christians came and kind of ruined these vibes, because in European culture images LIKE THAT were highly unacceptable. (I`m not saying that they were not there, however they were not on the book shelves)  Emperor Meiji wanted to maintain good relationship, so Shunga got censored and part of it unfortunately even destroyed. That is actually one of the reasons why the Japanese became more closed in their sexual life.  =( 

Shunga became uncensored only in 1989, and we can see, that brainwashing long ago worked well, because a lot of people turn red when they see to even hear something about Shunga, which should be a national heritage. 

So, what was Shunga for, if it is not only porn? 

In Japan sex was considered to be a natural part of life. Sex had nothing to do with shame. Also, it was a topic to laugh at, and laughter associates with pleasure. 

Shunga was not simply for stimulating sexual desire, but aimed to depict a wide range of aspects of sexuality. 

Shunga was used for:

Warriors amulets. 

Samurais and warriors used to have a little image in their pocket. It was used as an amulet to protect them.

Sex education  

Parents gave Shunga scrolls to their daughters before marriage to avoid weird conversations and to prepare a girl to what to do and what not to do. Some scrolls looked like manuals on using sex toys, giving and receiving pleasure. 

Funny anecdotes  

Most of the shunga images were accompanying funny stories, that describe some awkward erotic situation. There are a lot of types of those, for example: somebody is hiding and watching his wife having sex, woman having sex with animals, samurai offending geisha and she doesn`t want to see him any more, a guest chooses the wrong kabuki actor and so on. 

Adds for women of Yoshiwara and other fun places

Shunga were also used as adverts for women of Edo and Kyoto pleasure quarters (Yoshiwara and Shimabara). Clients could tell what house the woman was from by her kimono, also they were recognisable by elaborate hairstyles and hair kanzashi.  

Rumours 

Some Shunga were appearing right after somebody noticed a famous person attending a pleasure quarter. 

Why sizes are so huge? 

In various resources I found different answers, will share them with you and just take what you think is true! 

Remember - Shunga was not made to create desire. So, Genitals are not the main part. That is the reason why they look so unreal. Artists wanted to draw attention to a story. (Usually it is written on a scroll, but nobody notices it nowadays)

Same size with head. It Shows the importance of genitals, sexual pleasure is as important as anything else.

Also it is said that it creates a Balanced composition. Focus on both face and genitals.

Another version - it shows a Conflict between public(face) and hidden (genitals)

Last one - it is made to present human condition as complex and dynamic