Shunga, an Introduction to a Japanese Erotic Mystery

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

History  

The beginning of the shunga genre is connected with the origins of Ukiyo-e ('Images of the floating world') and starts with the work of Hishikawa Moronobu and his school between 1660-1670. Originally shunga were published as erotic manuals (guides) for the most popular courtesans in houses of pleasure. But with the growth of prosperity, the expansion of the brothels in Edo (today's Tokyo) and the alterations in the Japanese caste system with the merchants getting wealthier, embracing a hedonistic lifestyle, shunga gained a more diverting purpose. Shops in the pleasure quarters of Edo, called the Yoshiwara, sold shunga prints and books as souvenir to the visitors of the brothels. Shunga were also offered as dowry to newly-weds as an educational guide. Around 1765 with the transition to multi-colour woodblock printing, before woodblock prints were colored either by hand or printed with a limited palette, the shunga genre entered new ground (both aesthetically and commercially).This revival lasted another century ending at the start of the Meiji period (1868-1912) when Japan opened its economic and cultural gates to the West. During the Meiji period only a few artists specialized in designing shunga prints which were mainly influenced by Western art.      

Subjects and Themes  

At first glance a shunga image can have a confrontational effect on the (Western) viewer because of the undisguised way the subject matter has been portrayed or the exaggerated depiction of genitalia. Once accustomed he can experience the striking compositions and use of colour, the humour and the daring handling of themes. The shunga genre accommodates a wide range of themes. Besides the rendering of conventional heterosexual love-making mostly between married couples or courtesans and their clients it also dealt with the homosexual and lesbian acts of love, scenes involving hermaphrodites, mythical figures, ghosts, Westerners, bestiality and even necrophelia.      

Censorship  

In Japan, during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1660 to 1868, shunga were seen as objects injurious to public morals and subject to unavailing censorship. Today they are still prohibited but classified as erotica and therefore tolerated. It is nevertheless not permitted to import them into the country.      

Shunga Today  

"Recently it has become more widely admitted that, at their best, they are to be ranked - with works by Western artists of the caliber of Dürer, Rembrandt and Degas - among the finest of all graphic art". (Tom Evans -in ' Shunga, The Art of Love in Japan' )  

Over the last decade the attitudes in Japan regarding shunga have changed resulting in the publication of a huge quantity of books including uncensored material and shunga studies in Japan. In the West, the publications on shunga started in 1975 with the ground-breaking book 'Shunga, The Art of Love in Japan' by Tom and Mary Evans followed by Jack Hillier's 'Art of the Japanese Book' in 1987. The memorable exhibition in 1989 at the Musée d'Ilx-elles in Brussels, where the most impressive works in the show were of the shunga genre, also contributed to a renewed interest. In 2005, a unique exhibition was held in the Kunsthal Rotterdam called 'Lentelust' with a chronological overview of this art form. A new extensive publication on shunga by Gian Carlo Calza has been planned for the Spring of 2010.      

Books on Shunga  

'Shunga, the Art of Love in Japan'  (1975) - Tom and Mary Evans

'Art of the Japanese Book' (1987) - Jack Hillier

'The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga'  (1995 to 2000) - R. Lane and Y.Hayashi    

'Shunga, the Erotic Art of Japan'  (1997) - Marco Fagioli

'Sex and the Floating World'  (1999) - Timon Screech

'Japanese Erotic Prints'  (2002) - Inge Klompmakers

'Japanese Erotic Fantasies' (2005) - C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel      

Important Shunga Artists  

Hishikawa Moronobu (? -1694)  Suzuki Harunobu (c.1725-1770) Isoda Koryusai  (1735-90)   Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 -1806)   Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) Katsukawa Shuncho (act. c.1780s-early 1800s) Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787-1833) Keisai Eisen (1790-1848) Kikugawa Eizan (1787-1867) Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)  Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-89)