← All of Himeka's Erotic Trivia
Shunga's "spring" was never about cherry blossoms
The erotic woodblock prints Edo people enjoyed as "pillow pictures" and "laughing pictures." From being confiscated and destroyed to an exhibition that drew two hundred thousand people.
MaiHimeka-san! Shunga means "spring pictures," right!? So it's paintings of cherry blossoms and flower-viewing picnics! Pictures of spring! I totally know this!
Himeka...Sigh. What on earth were you looking at during flower viewing? Shunga are erotic pictures from the Edo period. "Spring" is a roundabout way of saying sex. Think spring fever, not spring flowers.
HimekaBack then they were also called "pillow pictures" and "laughing pictures." Pillow pictures comes from "putting the pillows together"... sleeping together, in other words. And the "laughing" in laughing pictures? That was a euphemism for sex, too.
MaiWait, they're dirty pictures!? Then laughing pictures must be naked people tickling each other! I figured it out!
HimekaIt's NOT tickling!! ...Well, I'll admit a lot of them really are funny. The lovers' lines are written right into the picture, and reading them is pretty hilarious. A certain body part drawn absurdly huge, ridiculous situations... Some of that exaggeration is there for laughs.
MaiA certain body part... oh. W-well, anyway! In shunga everyone's drawn butt-naked, right?
HimekaActually, it's the opposite. Full nudity is rare; most of them keep their gorgeous kimono on. People saw bare skin all the time at the bathhouse and out in the street, so researchers say fine fabric was probably the bigger turn-on.
MaiSo Edo had a clothes-on crowd too! I kinda feel a connection! And the guy who drew them was Kitagawa Utamacaron, right!? Sounds sweet and fancy!
HimekaIt's Kitagawa Utamaro! Stop turning him into dessert! ...But fine, most of the big-name woodblock artists made shunga, and plenty of it ranks with their best work. For much of the period it couldn't be published legally, so they usually left their names off.
HimekaHow people treat them has changed a lot, too. In 1614, shunga that reached England were confiscated as scandalous and destroyed. Then in 2013, the British Museum put on a shunga exhibition of about 150 works. In Japan, the first full-scale shunga exhibition opened in 2015 at the Eisei Bunko, and over two hundred thousand people came.
MaiTwo hundred thousand!? Whoa! Then starting today I'm drawing shunga too, and I'll make everyone crack up!
HimekaThat is NOT the kind of laughing it means!! If you draw them, the only thing people will laugh at is your drawing skills! ...Honestly.
Himeka's summary
- Shunga are erotic pictures centered on the Edo period. "Spring" is a euphemism for sex, and they were also called "pillow pictures" and "laughing pictures" ("laughing" being a euphemism for sex, too).
- They are full of exaggeration and humor, and figures are more often shown in kimono than fully nude.
- Most of the great woodblock artists made them, but for much of the period they couldn't be published legally, so artists' names were usually left off.
- Shunga that reached England in 1614 were confiscated and destroyed. Later, the British Museum held a shunga exhibition of about 150 works in 2013, and in 2015 the Eisei Bunko hosted Japan's first full-scale one, with over two hundred thousand visitors.
Sources
General trivia only. For anything that needs a medical call, talk to a doctor. All characters are adults.
Translated from the Japanese original. Sources are unchanged.