Homosexual and Lesbian Sex in Shunga
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Order ID 53563633773 Type Essay Writer Level Masters Style APA Sources/References 4 Perfect Number of Pages to Order 5-10 Pages Description/Paper Instructions
Homosexual and Lesbian Sex in Shunga
Homeroticism in Asia / Sexuality & The Illustrated Text – Homosexual and Lesbian Sex in Shunga
Shunga / Ukiyo in Japan
The word “ukiyo,” means “floating world,” and is Buddhist in origin. Prior to the Tokugawa period (1603 to 1868) the phrase suggested a sadness or anxiety regarding the transitory nature of this world. During this later period ukiyo came to mean a location of pleasure, consumption, sensuality, and hedonism, but with a positive connotation of “the world of pleasure.” The term, Shunga, is translated as “Images of Spring”, as the word spring has connections to the idea of youthful sexuality and vigor. For example the phrase, “selling spring,” relates to the sale of sexual services, although the meaning is different in the emotive sense than the English term “prostitution.” Shunga is a very general term used to describe Japanese erotic prints, books, scrolls and paintings. Many ukiyo or shunga are colored woodblock prints which were produced for a mass audience and were the most popular art form of the time. In the Tokugawa period vast numbers of these works were made using this simple printing process, which enabled the prints to be priced affordably enough for the general public to enjoy. The most popular of these works dealt with beauty and sex and show celebrities such as actors, sumo wrestlers and courtesans, the celebrations of youth, love, sexuality, nature and human emotions. All artists involved with this process of print making were also making Shunga works and no shame was associated with the creation, sale or ownership of these erotic images, which reflected the fact that Japanese society held the belief that the body and sex were a part of the natural world.
Men, youths and courtesans in a brothel, Ishikawa Toyonobu, Folio of woodblock print on paper, c. 1730-40
Many shunga or ukiyo depict male-male sex and female-female sex acts, although it was not until the 1990’s that much writing on these works was published. This was due in part to official Japanese censorship. It was also previously thought that all shunga were created for a male audience, but more recently this had been disproved. Inagaki Tsurujo is a female artist from the 18th century who painted Woman Manipulating a Glove Puppet, which is a not-so subtle image expressing female sexuality and control.
This is an example of a painting which does not directly depict a sex act. Similarly there are many shunga works which depict social scenes of everyday life where homosexual love is only hinted at and much is left to the imagination. There are also images of courtship, kissing and fondling as well as more explicit images. The earliest shunga works are by Hishikawa Moronobu and his school from 1660 to 1670 and were created as erotic manuals for courtesans. With growing prosperity in Edo (Tokyo) merchants were becoming wealthier and embracing shunga as part of a lifestyle of leisure and diversions. Stores in the pleasure quarters of Edo, sold shunga prints and books to their visitors. In the 1760’s as multi-colour woodblock printing became more popular, shunga florished both aesthetically and commercially. Prior to the Tokugawa period, the term “ukiyo,” “floating world,” conjured up mental images of sadness and anxiety regarding the transitory nature of this world. The term, of course, is of Buddhist origin.
Handcolored woodblock print by Hishikawa Moronobu, series ’Yoshiwara no tei’, lobby of a brothel, c. 1680
During the Tokugawa period, however, the term ukiyo underwent a transformation. It came to mean a place of pleasure, consumption, sensuality, and hedonism, but with a positive connotation of “the world of pleasure.” After the Tokugawa period, during the Meiji period (1868 – 1912) major change took place in Japan, including changes in attitudes about sexual behavior and the opening of the country to the West. In modern times the state began to take more interest in the regulation of sexual activity and the range of proper or generally acceptable (socially, morally, legally or otherwise) sexual behaviors narrowed significantly. Overall sexual freedom was curtailed and the country went from having a minimal consciousness of heterosexuality vs. homosexuality to a strong opposition to homosexuality. During the Meiji period only a few artists specialized in designing shunga prints. Japan turned towards the west in an effort to modernize. This meant that aspects of Japanese culture deemed “uncivilized” by the censorious Victorian gaze began to be hidden or thrown away completely. Erotic art in general and homosexual representations in particular went underground. Today, these images are still prohibited but classified as erotica and therefore tolerated. It is nevertheless not permitted to import them into the country. Shunga are rarely discussed in Japan, although managa and anime borrow from this venerable form of art.
Print from Kitagawa Utamaro, The Pillow Book (Uta Makura), 1788.
Returning to the Tokugawa period, homosexuality, in Japanese called nansoku meaning ‘male love’ or ‘male colors’, was not an uncommon during this time and was made popular or acceptable by the upper class of samurai or warriors. Among this class it was typical for an adolescent boy or wakashu train in martial arts with a more experienced adult man, who could take the young man as a lover, but only if the wakashu agreed. This could be formalized into a “brotherhood contact” and was necissarily exclusive. This practice, became codified as a kind of age-structured homosexuality called shudō. The older nenja, would teach the wakashū martial arts, and the samurai code of honor, which was meant to lead the adult to also become a better person and role model. This relationship was thought to be mutually beneficial. At the same time, as male-male sex did not preclude marriage or intimacy with women, what we considered today to be bisexuality is most close to what we are discussing in the Tokugawa period. In the early years of the Tokugawa regime men greatly outnumbered women in Edo. There were very strict rules imposed by the government inspired by the loyal standards of Confucianism which excluded women to participate in any kind of work with the exception of household tasks. These regulations and the shortage of women can be seen as deciding factors for the huge amount of homosexual activities. The most characteristic feature of the depictions in shunga of male-male sex is the relation between the two involved “lovers”. The leading and dominant male with his shaven head is always the older one, this on the basis of seniority or higher social status, while the subjected passive partner was a young man depicted with a unshaven forelock. These young boys are often shown in female cloths. They served as pages to high ranking samurai’s, monks, wealthy merchants or older servants. The focus in many of these works is not suppose to be purely on a sex act but also on the garments and elegant lines of the body.
While there was a Japanese term for male-male (nanshoku) and male-female sex, joshoku or nyoshoku meaning ‘female love’, there was no such word to describe female-female sex or lesbianism. Most of the shunga regarding explicitly female concentrated designs depicted either isolated women masturbating or two intimate women using this same sexual device. Hokusai (1760-1849), the most famous Ukiyo-e master designed two lesbian ehon (book) prints. Most of these It must be images of lesbianism in shunga were intended for a male audience.
Hokusai (1760-1849) c.1814
Erotic prints of the Tokugawa period use a variety of symbols which we may not understand just by looking at the works. Water is often connected with male sexuality due to its relationship to the yin yang. Tokugawa period prints also commonly featured vaginal symbols, which tended to be more subtle than the phallic ones. The most common vaginal symbol, however, was the sleeve. Clothing in general–especially expensive clothing–often served as an eroticized surface in shunga (much like the function of skin in Western-style erotic imagery). The sleeves of the robes worn at this time were long, wide, and contained several openings.
The plum and cherry blossoms, favorite images in classical Japanese literature, figured prominently in the repertoire of Tokugawa erotic symbols. The interplay of these symbols could be quite complex, but the basic meaning of the plum blossom was male sexuality and the basic meaning of the cherry blossom was female sexuality. These meanings could be heterosexual or homosexual in nature depending on the context, and in certain homoerotic contexts the cherry blossom could indicate a boy partner of an older man. To “break” a cherry blossom or a plum blossom–in the sense of breaking off a twig or small branch on which the flowers are blooming–meant to offer one’s sexuality to another.
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