The word shunga is translated into spring pictures. Spring is when all of the animal species of the world mate. The categories of spring erotic depictions are delegated to Japanese erotic illustrations, paintings and prints. The spring erotic depictions are explicit and detailed. The spring sexual depictions are also art of great beauty. The depictions frequently show fertility rites and the elated sex that is enjoyed between two people. Some of the spring depictions are heterosexual in nature; other illustrations of depict homosexual acts, good sex practices and mythology. The history of shunga as an art form will be reviewed from the perspectives of Hayakawa and Gerstle (2013), Kornicki (2001), Munro (2008), Screech (1999) and Smith (1995).
BACKGROUND
Some of the spring sexual illustrations can be detailed as being a sexual almanac that had elements in common with the Kama Sutra. It was a regular practice to bestow the illustrations as a present .The erotic depictions gained substantial popularity as nuptial gifts. The shunga art form describes a significant amount about the attitudes that were held by the Japanese with regards to sex in the period between the 12th and 17th centuries. In the 12th century, the sexually explicit hand scrolls (emaki) converted into an art form that was revered among the warrior, priest and aristocrat classes in Japan (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 331; Munro 92; Screech 14; Smith 26). The colors that are used in the erotic drawings are derived from the following ingredients:
The prints were composed in a variety of sizes; the most frequently encountered size was an oban. The dimensions of the oban prints were ten inches by fifteen inches. The majority of the sensual prints were not displayed on walls. They were maintained in magazines that one could view with discretion. At the end of the seventeenth century, in order to circumvent the moral laws that were applied to art, many of the artists would compose a piece at a time. These pieces could be fitted together for viewing when purchased (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 331; Munro 92; Screech 17; Smith 26).
The fan is a significant fashion accessory for women and men. The erotic stories were also produced on fans in order to give the consumer a variety of distinct prints that could be viewed privately. The artists demonstrated ingenuity in placing the prints on the fans (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 331; Munro 92; Screech 14; Smith 26).
http://www.fujiarts.com/japanese-prints/k202/245k202f.jpg
Pillar Pictures
The pillar pictures that were designated as hashira- e, were prints that were composed vertically by conjoining two pieces of paper. The hashira- e measured five inches by twenty nine inches. The size varied in each of the distinct periods between the twelfth century and the seventeenth century. It was challenging for the artists to depict the scenes on these dimensions of paper. The conventional Japanese home was composed of scarce long walls. The doors that separated the rooms were made from paper. The hashira- e was placed on the wooden columns of the home. These prints are extremely rare due to their composition (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 338; Munro 92; Screech 19; Smith 26).
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Shunga_Art_5.jpg
Surimono
The prints that were used in order to serve as invitations and greeting cards were called surimono. The most prominent artists would create these types of invitations and greeting cards. The surimono prints are composed of scenes that depict exquisite detail. Usually, the latest and most innovated painting styles were applied on the surimono. The surimono were used in order to convey good luck, happiness and longevity to the recipient (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 339; Munro 92; Screech 21; Smith 31).
The theme of the erotic depictions was most frequently detailed as spring depictions. The spring scenes are most frequently erotic prints that have beautiful women. The majority of the artists would compose the sketches as conventional depictions of courtesans and everyday women. The majority of the paintings depict upper class prostitutes who practiced their trade with government permission. These were the most stylish women of Japanese society. It was extremely rare to depict a lower class prostitute. In the event that the lower class prostitutes were depicted, they usually were painted carrying mats that were rolled, in order to practice their craft (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 341; Munro 92; Screech 24; Smith 31).
anosuteki.jp/contents/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/e802009401a3778bdab8fbf466adeb15.jpg
The seductive pictures of women who had their kimonos slightly open were very popular. The artists were also engaged in depicting women performing chores. These chores included the visiting of holy shrines or the raising of children. There were other categories of women who were included in these types of depictions. These women ranged in their social statuses from geishas, actresses and tea hostesses. The clues to the Japanese women’s social status can be found in their attire and posture. The posture and the attire indicate whether the woman is an ordinary woman or a prostitute (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 341; Munro 92; Screech 27; Smith 29). When women displayed their neck lines or their feet, this was considered to be very sensual. A modest slip that demonstrated the internal kimono was perceived to be stimulating (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 341; Munro 92; Screech 24; Smith 28).
Kabuki
In comparison to the extremely formal, traditional and conservative theater, the kabuki demonstrated lively gestures on the theatrical scenes that were accompanied by exciting plots. The kabuki imitated at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The actors were ladies who danced sensually in order to engage in foreplay as a prelude to prostitution. After the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Japanese government passed a law that stated that only men could be actors in the kabuki. The men were required to shave the tops of their heads in order to cause them to appear less sensual. Considering that the element of prostitution was extracted from the kabuki, the kabuki developed in a genuine Japanese art form (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 343; Munro 92; Screech 22; Smith 32).
The shunga possesses a history that is dated back to its origins in China. The sexual depictions were perceived to have been inspired by the Chinese medicine handbooks. Zhou Fang, the Chinese painter is perceived to have been instrumental in the development of Shunga. Zhou Fang painted the prints as people who were engaged in sex. The sexual organs of the participants were depicted as enlarged (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 337; Munro 92; Screech 17; Smith 29).
The exact meaning of the word shunga is spring picture. The original form of the word shunga is a Japanese interpretation of a collection of the twelve sexual positions that the Crown Prince was obliged to perform in order to express the Taoist philosophy of yin and yang. The Helan period is where the Japanese application of erotic depictions initiates. The spring depictions were reserved to the class that idolized and patronized courtesans. The sexual scandals that were shown were restricted to courtesans and monks (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 341; Munro 92; Screech 19; Smith 31).
Applications
The sexual illustrations were relished by males and females of all social strata. The customs and the superstitions that surround the erotic depictions inferred that it may have been a charm to ward away evil spirits. The members of the warrior classes used the shunga sin order to evade death during a battle. The sexually explicit drawings and paintings were perceived to be protections against incendiary accidents in the warehouses that were owned by the merchants. Members of a variety of social classes owned spring depictions (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 341; Munro 92; Screech 18; Smith 27).
All of the members of the various social classes would experience separation from the members of the opposite sex. The sexually oriented paintings may have also been carried for libidinous reasons. The documents of women acquiring the sexual mages demonstrate that the women also consumed the art form. The shunga also served as sexual instruction depictions for the members of the affluent families in Japan during the period that ranged from the 12th to the 17th centuries (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 331; Munro 92; Screech 14; Smith 26).
There were various prices and quality of Shunga. Some of the illustrations were extremely detailed. These erotic depictions were requested by the members of the ruling classes and the wealthy members of the merchant class. Many of the shunga were restricted in their color, liberally circulated and could be viewed for the price of a meal. The more elaborate paintings were accessible by means of libraries (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 331; Munro 92; Screech 14; Smith 26).
Narrative Qualities
The hand scrolls that were painted and the art books that were illustrated usually depicted a surreal sequence of events in a sexual tableau. There were a wide range of possibilities that were demonstrated. The possibilities could be the males seducing the females, the females seducing the males and the married males and married females committing adultery. All chronological ages of subjects were shown in the shunga. There were children, mature couples and creatures (i.e., octopi) depicted in the spring depictions (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 332; Munro 92; Screech 16; Smith 27).
Many of the spring pictures were directed toward hetero sexual intercourse. There were also many of the paintings that depicted homosexual intercourse. The intercourse that took place between females was a rare feature to depict. There was a substantial amount of symbolism applied in the creation of the hand scrolls. The plum blossoms in scenes are meant to infer virginity or chastity and the tissues are meant to infer that an ejaculation was impending (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 333; Munro 92; Screech 20; Smith 26).
Surrealism
The couples that are depicted in the act of sexual intercourse in the illustrations are frequently depicted in surrealistic positions with genitalia that are extremely exaggerated in size. The reasons for this exaggeration of the size of the genitalia are that the surrealism increased the visibility and the consumer’s imagination of the sexual content, psychological influence and artistic curiosity. The exaggerated genitalia were intended to demonstrate a concealed face that manifested primal passions. The everyday face is intended to conceal the primal passions. The genitalia are demonstrated as being the identical size as the subjects head and placed surrealistically close to the subject’s faces. This is the reason for the many awkward sexual positions that are demonstrated in shunga (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 335; Munro 92; Screech 15; Smith 26).
Customs of the Shunga
In order to place the complex art that was depicted in the context of the Japanese urban lifestyle, there is a requisite for the consideration of the manner by which the explicit sexual depictions may have been of service in the pre-modern Japanese social traditions. In history, the initial endeavor is to evaluate the customs of painting the hand scrolls that were distributed in the aristocratic Japanese culture. There are still a number of scrolls that remain intact from the pre -seventeenth century era. It cannot be disputed that these scrolls compose a genre; they flourished prior to the seventeenth century (Smith 26).
http://www.nipponlugano.ch/en/shunga-multimedia/narrazione/project/links/Highlights/project/media_files/ban260/ban_S
The scrolls normally depict couples who are semi- attired in aristocratic Japanese clothing. There are the kimono bows that are used in order to identify the women and the eboshi caps that are applied in order to identify the males. These pictures show a diverse number of sexual positions. The conventional assumption is that the erotic painting may have been used as articles of seduction or as instruction manuals for the young brides who were going to wed. It could also be assumed that the sexually explicit depictions were used for masturbation in isolation or as conversation pieces in social events (Smith 26).
http://www.annexgalleries.com/images/items/large/PAOC101/Shunga-from-a-Pillow-Book-by-Unidentified.jpg
The hand scrolls demonstrate that there is a tradition that extends to the Helan era. The shunga demonstrate that the Japanese are not bashful with regards to the demonstration of genitals. A conventional tradition that is popular within the aristocratic class with regards to the lack of surviving hand scrolls from before the sixteenth century is that they were used as reclining depictions. The term shunga appears as early as the ninth century C.E. It is inferred that these types of depictions were not condoned to be demonstrated publicly (Smith 27).
There is a depiction that is cited in a narrative form the Kokon chimoju. The depiction of the exaggerations in size of the genitalia may have been a manner of maintaining interest in the visual art form. This tradition may not have been reproduced in the medieval or Helan Japanese courts. These may have been an absence of the production of the sexual illustrations from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. A primary consideration for the revival of the shunga in the sixteenth century may have been the endorsement of extensive scale establishments of authorized prostitution that may have been initiated in the Shinchi zone of Osaka in the late sixteenth century (Smith 28).
It could be perceived that the hand scrolls not related to the perpetuation of the older custom from the era that precedes the thirteenth century. It may have been an imaginative resurrection of the art form in a completely new historical context. One of the primary characteristics of the new authorized establishments for prostitution was a methodical fantasy with regards to the environment of the Genji. It is not surprising that the early spring pictures demonstrate depictions that are borrowed from the Genji (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 331; Munro 92; Screech 14; Smith 26).
Another consideration is that the depiction of the genitalia may be derived from Chinese tradition. In the Japanese medical textbook Ishinpō that was produced in the latter part of the tenth century, it conserves the sections of the ancient classical depictions of Chinese sexual yoga exercises that had been forgotten in their land of ancestral origin. The influence of this complex tradition is apparent in many of the works of the late sixteenth century shunga. This can be noted in the established numbers of sexual positions (Smith 28).
The samurai called the hand scrolls victory pictures (Smith 28). The origin of the shunga may have been derived in the rural areas of Japan. In these areas, the worship of the male and the female genitalia was popular in order to ensure fertility. The prayers and rituals toward that were directed toward the worship of the male and female genitalia may have been performed for ensuring agricultural and human fertility in the rural zones. In the urban environments, the sexual illustrations are maintained in armored chests. This is performed in order to diminish the potential of the home being consumed by fire. Fires were a risk in the urban residence of the samurai. In addition, the spring pictures were carried by members of the privileged classes in order to guarantee good luck (Hayakawa & Gerstle 26; Kornicki 331; Munro 92; Screech 14; Smith 26).
As Japan became modernized, all of the shunga became criminalized. This may attribute for the deficiency of spring depictions that originated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The originals and their reproductions were prohibited during the Meiji period. This perspective has become more relaxed during the period of the post Sino- Japanese War. There has since been a stringent prohibition of all of the hand scrolls that demonstrates genitalia. The spring pictures evolved into becoming very private possessions that are only deployed in the realm of the particular aficionado. The spring pictures ceased being a subject for urban Japanese art during the Meiji period. All of the images of pubic hair were extracted from the depictions that had been held in the public domain. Consequently, the spring sexually explicit depictions have been removed from urban Japanese society (Smith 33).
The contemporary appreciation of the shunga is derived from the nostalgia for the era in which they were produced. This era was characterized as a time when the inherent attitude of the Japanese public was allowed the liberty of recreational liberal play. The contemporary guardians of the spring art have been mature men who have become aficionados of the fetishes that are manifest in the spring depictions and in the historical review of the details. The sexually explicit hand scrolls were always subject to the changes in attitudes (Smith 33).
Presently, there has been a change with regards to the ceasing of the prohibition of shunga. The debate that has been ongoing with regards to the obscenity regulations in Japan has not been the theme of a substantial amount of vocal protest. Many of the Japanese have commented that it is ironic to have banned the erotic illustrations when many other forms of pornography have not been prohibited. In removing the shunga from the private and obscured niches in which they were restricted in the Meiji state, the possibility exists to comprehend the context of the sexually explicit hand scrolls in their historical perspective (Smith 33).
The spring pictures may have held a variety of roles in the pre- Meiji society. It is certain that there are no traced of fourteenth century spring depictions that are known to exist. This could be attributed to the themes that may have been depicted in this era or more simply; these articles could have disappeared from overuse. It would not be irrational to think that some of the hand scrolls were used for personal masturbation (Smith 32).
As these depictions were passed from one owner to the other, the bodily fluids that were left upon the shunga could have caused them to disintegrate (Smith 27). Considering the sexual imagery that is depicted in the in the hand scrolls, if we apply the scientific theory of Occam’s razor, with all things being equivalent, the simplest explanation is usually correct (Soklakov 2). The fourteenth and fifteenth century spring depictions could have simply disintegrated from overuse.
CONCLUSION
In accordance with daily life, the shunga that existed prior to the Edo period had diverse depictions of sexuality. The art form attained it height in the period that spanned to the end of the seventeenth century. Spring depictions are reported to have been an instructional guide for the children of aristocratic Japanese families. The spring illustrations were applied in order to instruct the techniques of sexual foreplay, the sexual intercourse positions and the appropriate hygienic practices. The spring pictures were an art form that was enjoyed by members of all social classes.
Works Cited
Hayakawa, Monta and Andrew Gerstle. “Who were the audiences for shunga?” Japan Review 26(2013): 26.
Kornicki, Peter. The book in Japan: A cultural history from the beginnings to the nineteenth century. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2001. Print.
Munro, Majella. Masterclass: Understanding shunga: A guide to the Japanese erotic art. London, UK: ER Books, 2008. Print.
Screech, Timon. Sex and the floating world. London, UK: Reakton Books, 1999. Print.
Smith, Henry. “Overcoming the modern history of Edo “shunga”.” Proceedings Imaging Reading Eros Sexuality and Edo Culture 1750- 1850 Indiana University Bloomington, 17- 20 August 1995, Ed. Susan Jones. pp. 26- 34. Web 16 November 2014. http://www.columbia.edu/`hds2/pdf/1995_Edo_Shunga.pdf
Soklakov, Andrei. “Occam’s razor as a formal basis for physical theory” Department of Mathematics, Royal Holloway, University of London, 26 September 2001. Web 16 November 2014. http://arsiv.org/psf/math-ph/0009007.pdf
