RICHARD ILLING

on
Japanese erotic art
and the life of the courtesan

Richard Illing

The courtesan in eighteenth- and nineteenth-

century Japan was regarded, not as a lowly,
despised or unfortunate creature but as a
source of refined and sensuous satisfaction; no
shame attached to either the giver or the
receiver of sensual pleasures. The highest-
ranking courtesans were stars of the ‘floating
world’ of the Yoshiwara, the brothel quarter
of Edo, and their accomplishments and
intelligence were sought after by the richest
members of the nobility and the merchant
class. The leading artists of the day —
Utamaro, Harunobu, Koryusai, Shuncho,
Kuniyoshi and others — illustrated the lives
and activities of these girls and their clients,
producing images of great beauty in their
woodblock prints. These are often, though not
always, utterly explicit, but they possess a
charm and an emotional intensity which
render invalid any charges of appealing to the
prurient. Richard Illing describes life in the
Yoshiwara and explains how the outlook of
the Japanese people, for whom these prints
were intended as edification and pleasure,
differed so greatly from that of the West in
sexual matters. Each of the forty-one color
plates is accompanied by a detailed caption.
 Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2023 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation

https://archive.org/details/japaneseeroticarO000rich
Richard Illing

APANESE
ROTIC ART
AND THE LIFE OF THE COURTESAN

With 41 color plates

r{\N
GALLERY BOOKS
An Imprint of W. H. Smith Publishers Inc.
112 Madison Avenue
New York City 10016
Published by Gallery Books
An imprint of W.H. Smith Publishers Inc.
112 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016

© Blacker Calmann Cooper Ltd, 1978

This book was designed and produced by
Blacker Calmann Cooper Ltd, London

Reprinted 1983

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Main entry under title:
Japanese erotic art.
1. Erotic art — Japan. 2. Prints, Japanese. 3. Scrolls, Japanese.
I. Illing, Richard.
N7350.J34 760 78-19949

ISBN 0-8317-2889-2

Printed in Spain by Graficromo S.A.

 Introduction

THROUGHOUT THE LATTER HALF Of the seventeenth, the eighteenth and the
nineteenth centuries, the Japanese courtesan, her beauty, her skills, her
fashions and every detail of her life were objects of consuming interest and
fascination in the gay life of Edo, now the modern city of Tokyo. In the
entertainment world of a society whose hedonistic morality was founded
on a belief in the transient nature of life, the top-ranking courtesans were
the feminine equivalent of today’s film stars and pop stars. Famous popular
artists vied with one another to make them the subjects of prints that are
now acknowledged to be masterpieces of graphic art. Since the Japanese
had never considered that sexual enjoyment was something to which shame
should be attached, these same artists did not hesitate to show the sex-life
of the girls and in doing so produced some of the most beautiful evocations
of passionate love that the world has ever seen. Their art is the subject of
this book.
The works themselves can broadly be divided into two categories. There
were guides to the pleasure quarters and pictures of the inmates, the
courtesans and their apprentices, the geishas, the tea-house girls and the ~
entertainers. In these, erotic overtones, although present to the discerning
eye, are not explicit. Also, forming a distinct sub-group, were the overtly
erotic sex pictures, *. . . a predominantly serious, artistic glorification of the
erotic, as far removed from phallic-religious significance as it was from
snickering prurience. It was a clean_and open-art-form, enjoyed, without
guilt, by a race to whom the full pleasures of sex were considered but one
of the natural rights of mankind.’ (Richard Lane, The Erotic Art of the East,
ed. Philip Rawson.) The Japanese called them shunga or ‘spring pictures’.
Relative freedom from political, religious or public prejudice meant that the
artists could take pride in producing pictures of sexual life which were
expressly intended to give pleasure to the viewer.
To place the situation of the courtesan in perspective it is necessary to
know something of the historical background. During the Middle Ages
Japan had been subjected to long periods of destructive civil war. Clan
fought against clan with a relentless intensity which was typically Japanese.
Implacable warriors of great courage and fanatical loyalty killed each other
as armies strove mercilessly to annihilate their opponents. The country was
ravaged and impoverished. These struggles culminated in the rise to power
of the warlord Ieyasu. After an overwhelming victory in 1600 he set up a
government in Edo and established a military dictatorship which was main-
tained by his descendants from the Tokugawa clan until the middle of the
nineteenth century, when internal pressures and the arrival of the warships
of the Western trading powers undermined their influence and caused their
downfall in 1867. For more than two and a half centuries, however, the
Tokugawa shoguns, with an impregnable fortress as their power-base in
Edo and a self-imposed seclusion from the rest of the world, faced little
chance of opposition. The titular head of the nation was still the Emperor
but he and his court, tucked away in the beautiful old inland city of Kyoto,
had no real power and successive Emperors remained only as ceremonial
figures.
The shoguns used their power to consolidate their position. They
strengthened the old rules of society with new laws, actively promoting
distinctions between classes. The samurai, less than ten per cent of the
population, were a military caste of nobles, knights and retainers, incul-
cated from birth with a sense of superiority and governed by ideals of
loyalty and a rigid adherence to duty. They became increasingly anachron-
istic and underemployed during the years of imposed peace. They were paid
fixed stipends based on units of the staple commodity, rice. The peasant
farmer, theoretically second in the order of classes, was the producer of
such wealth. In practice he was a poor man, who worked from dawn to
dusk, knelt with his forehead on the ground when his lord went by, and
was heavily taxed. Although scorned as the third and lowest-class, the
middlemen, who serviced the wealth produced by. the farmers and spent by
the samurai, prospered with the peace and tended to become rich. These_
were the townsmen, the builders and craftsmen, the bankers and merchants
and the servants and shopkeepers. Restricted by sumptuary laws in how
they might spend their new-found wealth, the townsmen now had the
leisure and opportunity to study and to develop a popular lowbrow taste in
literature, poetry and drama. With these new interests to prompt them, they *
looked increasingly for amusement and entertainment.
What was the position of the women in this society? A married woman
played a subservient role in the home of her husband’s family. She was
governed by the ‘three obediences’; as a child to her father, as a wife to her
husband, as a widow to her eldest son. Although these rules tended to be
followed more strictly in the samurai families, marriages were usually
arranged and were based on duty and respect rather than love. Sex in
marriage was. primarily intended to lead to procreation; barrenness in a
wife was grounds for divorce. For the men, however, facilities were avail-_
able outside marriage for sexual encounters of a more ‘romantic’ and
sophisticated kind.
Prostitution, in one form or another, had always been rife in Edo, a ‘city
of bachelors’, but with the coming of peace arose the Yoshiwara, a legiti-
mate, regulated, enclosed brothel quarter, where the degree of refinement
surrounding an evening’s indulgence was limited only by the depth of one’s
purse. Designed to please all the senses, with trees and flowers, processions
and celebrations, it was a place where, as night fell, the lanterns were lit
and the gaiety, the songs, the music and the dancing began. This is where
you could meet the ‘men of the moment’, artists, authors, poets, thinkers
and indeed everyone who was engaged in the pursuit of pleasure. The
Yoshiwara was, above all, somewhere where all men, of whatever class,
could rub shoulders as equals, so long as they could pay their bills. Situated
on the north-east boundary of Edo, the Yoshiwara was a walled enclave,
entered through a single gate, under the jurisdiction of the town magis-
trates. Beyond the gate was a broad central thoroughfare planted with
cherry trees. ‘Handsome two-storeyed wooden buildings, open to the street,
were filled with pretty young girls, playing upon the samisen (banjo), having
their hair dressed, sitting idle, or engaged at their toilet mirrors . . . streets
of neat houses extended to a distance of half a mile on each side, from
which the same sounds proceeded.’ (W. E. Griffis, The Mikado’s Empire, New
York 1876.) Thus wrote a visitor to Edo in 1871, when the Yoshiwara con-
tained over one hundred and fifty brothels, about four hundred tea-houses
serving as inns for assignations with higher class courtesans, and more
than three thousand registered prostitutes of all grades. The girls, classified
according to their beauty, skills and cost, had usually served an apprentice-
ship to an established courtesan for several years before starting their
careers at the age of about fifteen. They were usually either one of the
products of the secret maternity hospitals, run for the prostitutes by the
brothel proprietors, or the daughters of penurious peasants sold to travel-
ling procurers in childhood. There were also many stories of women who
sold themselves into bondage to provide for.a sick husband, an impoverished
family or ailing aged parents.
An evening’s entertainment would often start with a short trip by boat
along the Sumida river, Horses could be hired for the final mile along a wide
embankment between rice fields. The Yoshiwara at night was brightly lit by
a myriad of paper lanterns and was full of a bustling throng of customers,
sightseers, pimps, street-vendors and servants. Lower ranking courtesans,
gorgeously dressed and made up, sat in rows in the ground floor apartments
of the often palatial mansions. The rooms were open to the street but pro-
tected from the outside by grilles of wooden bars. To make an assignation
with one of the higher ranking girls an intermediary had to be hired at one
of the tea-houses. After sake had been served the visitor would be shown a
‘menu’ of the available girls and, especially if a newcomer, advised of their
particular charms. He would be expected to pay without hesitation, to tip
well and to expect no change. The tea-house girl would not only arrange
the meeting but would act as the customer’s personal attendant for the —
evening, ordering food, drink and entertainment and later guiding him to his
bed-chamber. The courtesan’s training would include not only expert
sexual technique but also conversation, repartee and all the arts of agree-
able companionship to keep the client amused during the evening’s enter-
tainment in preparation for the night’s events. Some visitors, interested
only in the conviviality, singing, dancing and games, would leave before
the gates were closed at midnight. Most stayed overnight with one of the
girls. Rising at first light they returned home early, pausing for a moment
at the ‘Gazing back willow’, for a last glimpse of the scene of their pleasures.
The bill would have been a heavy one and, unless they were very rich, they
would not be able to come frequently. Indeed, public opinion, which viewed
with equanimity the pursuit of sexual pleasure, eyed with disquiet the
money that was sometimes squandered. Young rakes were apt to ruin both
themselves and their families and there are many stories of older men who
did the same, for the Yoshiwara was expert at the game of parting men
from their money.
The intelligent, witty and accomplished girls of the highest rank, the
idols of this artificial world of sensual pleasure, formed only a tiny propor-
tion of the inmates but, by setting the highest standards at the top, their
presence exerted an influence on those who strove to emulate them. The
favours of this handful of cultured beauties were reserved for the very rich,
the nobles, the court officials, the wealthiest bankers and merchants. Here
the despised townsman was able to buy the elegance and romantic refine-
ment which his lowly status outside denied him, however rich he might
be. The courtesan expected to be courted by her client and a man who failed
to do so would be made to feel ridiculous. The higher the status of the
courtesan the greater the degree of flirtation and seduction expected. In the
case of the top grades, the oiran might require several visits, with expensive
gifts and exchanges of love letters, before she would succumb. For all these
girls, their entire world confined within the walls of the Yoshiwara, the
only chance of romance lay in their transient affairs with the men that
came and went in their lives; there is abundant evidence that these close
and intimate relationships between young men and women often involved
the emotions of both. Vows of fidelity were exchanged, love letters and
poems composed, mutual gifts of locks of hair were wrapped in ribbon and
sewn into their garments and both men and women frequently fell in love
with each other.
Despite these pathetic, transient romances, life for the courtesan was
mainly an unpleasant form of female slavery. Once within the walls of the
Yoshiwara she became entangled by debts that she could never hope to
repay, and the walls, the regulations and the guard on the gate combined
to make escape an impracticable dream. Her only possible road to freedom
lay in the remote chance that a rich admirer would one day purchase her
freedom and marry her. It is happy to relate that this did happen occasion-
ally, sufficiently often to keep hope alive, sufficiently rarely for each case
to have been faithfully recorded. Otherwise, the sad truth remains that the
courtesan was a prostitute, living in a gilded cage where life was little
different from that of other prostitutes in brothels throughout history.
For generations the girls of the Yoshiwara provided subject-matter for
the commercial artists who designed the popular woodblock printed broad-
sheets and illustrated books. I have selected works mainly from the forty
years following the introduction of full colour printing in 1764, a period '
which contains the cream of Japanese colour printed shunga, the erotica,
and bijin-e, ‘pictures of pretty girls’. It covers the pictures of the slim, fragile-
looking little girls of Harunobu and Koriusai and the ‘golden age’ of figure
prints when Utamaro and a galaxy of other talented artists competed with
each other to produce ever more beautiful, technically dazzling designs of
the most fashionable women of the day. The bijin-e, often named portraits
of famous courtesans, were in great demand at all times until they were
restricted by censorship laws in 1842. Sets of single sheet prints were
usually linked by a fanciful title or theme and could be bought as a set or
separately. Where the artist needed a broader spread, prints would be de-
signed and sold as diptychs or triptychs. Print dimensions tended to conform
to conventional paper sizes and were restricted by the size of woodblock that
could be conveniently worked. Emphasis was often placed on the stylish
coiffeur and the patterns and cut of the garments, both of which played an
important part in feminine attraction. The leading courtesans were arbiters
of ladies’ fashions and prints showing these girls performed an important
subsidiary role by acting as fashion plates. No artist could afford to ignore
the newest vogue in hair styling or the latest extravagance in the printed
or embroidered materials of the kimono. Beneath the kimono was worn a
long under-dress, often with a contrasting lining and much stress was laid
on the taste shown by the choice of colours and patterns of these robes and
of the obi, the broad sash which held the kimono gathered at the waist. The
tying of the obi was itself of significance since, although anciently always
tied in the front, from the mid-eighteenth century this custom was restricted
to the courtesans. The use of cosmetics is also often shown. The practice of
blackening the teeth, traditionally a sign of married status, is also seen in
prints of courtesans, who were sometimes called ichitya-zuma, ‘one night
wives’, on the theory that they were married to their clients, albeit only for
a night.
The accent on costume only partly explains the relative lack of the nude
in Japanese art as a whole and in the shunga in particular. In the latter, the
figures were usually draped but with the genitals exposed to reveal details
of the sexual activity; this served to concentrate the attention on the sensual
focus which was at the heart of the design. Nudity was rarely, of itself,
erotic to the Japanese. In a culture where communal bathing was usual,
nakedness was too common to be exciting. It is apparent that the viewers of
the shunga would also have had no illusions about the true dimensions of
the genital organs, which artistic convention always exaggerated enor-
mously. Even the most inexperienced bride (sometimes the avowedly in-
tended recipient of shunga books and albums) would not have been so
unworldly as to have been deceived by these pictures.
The erotic prints tended to be mounted, folded, in sets in albums and
were meant to be viewed consecutively, much in the way that a hand-scroll
would be unrolled section by section to show one scene at a time. Some
shunga prints were mounted in a roll in this way but this was less usual.
These sets commonly consisted of twelve designs, of which the first and
sometimes one or two others were not overtly sexual. Variations in type of
sexual activity, posture and setting avoided the risk of wearying the eye with
unrelieved coitus. The linear, two-dimensional quality of Japanese draughts-
manship allowed them to show a scene as if drawn from several simul-
taneous vantage points. This was helpful in depicting sexual intercourse as
it is difficult, using Western naturalism and perspective, to maintain visual
logic without having to restrict the postures shown and the angles of view.
The Japanese artist, however, was unrestricted by the rules of perspective
and able to use draped clothing to distract the eye from unusual positions
of limbs. Even considerably distorted anatomy was frequently accepted
without apparent awkwardness.
Many of the erotic works were promoted for their instructional matter,
claiming artistic descent from the ‘pillow books’ and scrolls handed on as
family heirlooms to noble brides. Certainly part of the shunga booksellers’
steady sales came from their widespread use as gifts to newlyweds. All the
techniques of preliminary foreplay and arousal are given prominence, with
every indication that as much attention was paid to ensuring the enjoyment
of the female partner as to that of the male. They do not, therefore, seem to
have served only as a vicarious outlet for the immature or the sexually
deprived. In addition to the urban booksellers’ market, travelling pedlars
seem to have had a steady sale to housewives in the country districts and
there is little doubt that ordinary families used shunga as an aid to arousal
and to heighten stimulation in their everyday sexual relations. That they
played a significant part in basic sex education is less certain. The Japanese
house, with walls literally paper-thin, was no place for secretive behaviour,
even had social custom demanded it, and children would scarcely have had
to be taught the ‘facts of life’.
The overall impression gained from these pictures of life in old Edo is one
of a gay, fun-loving society, which took pains to ensure that the joys of sex
were savoured to the full. These prints, by famous artists, make that world
come alive again, showing us the beauty and elegance of the courtesans,
and the gusto and joie de vivre with which life was pursued.
1. Utamaro (1754-1806)
1804. From ‘Annals of the green houses’; colour-printed
book illustration. 7 x 105 in (18 x 26-5cm)

Dusk is falling and, in the first floor apartment of one of

the houses of the Yoshiwara, the lanterns have already
been lit. Four men are sitting, gazing out at the moon
rising over the broad, raised causeway which, running
between rice fields, connected the Yoshiwara with
the city of Edo. One of their courtesans has already
joined the party and a second, her green obi tied °
prominently in the front, is approaching. The two other
girls remain temporarily aloof, chatting to each other. In
the foreground the boundary wall of the Yoshiwara is
topped by a prominent row of sharp pointed stakes.
ale.
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2. Utamaro (1754-1806)
c.1800. From ‘Celebrated beauties compared with the _
Chushingura’; oban colour print. c.15 x 9in (38 X23cm)

Utamaro designed several prints which are thought to be

self-portraits but here we are left in no doubt. The two
characters of his name appear in roundels on his robe
and an inscription on the post above reads, ‘By request
Utamaro draws his charming face’.
The series is a parody on the famous Kabuki play
Chushingura and this print, illustrating Act XI, alludes to
the villain Moronao, who is discovered at night by the
victorious heroes and subsequently executed. This more
convivial scene shows him being plied with sake by
three elegant courtesans; his approaching fate is left to
our imagination.
3. Utamaro (1754-1806)
1804. From ‘Annals of the green houses’; colour-printed
book illustration. c.7+ x 103in (19 x 26:-5cm)

In the print above, Utamaro has given us a further

portrait of himself within the Yoshiwara. Here, however,
he has shown himself at work, decorating an entire wall
of the Ogiya (House of the Fan) with a huge picture of
a Ho-ho bird, a Chinese mythological beast akin to a
phoenix, half pheasant, half peacock. Spread on the floor
about him are bowls containing the prepared pigments
and a triple-tiered box holding pots of unmixed colours
and trays full of brushes. A servant boy tends the
charcoal brazier and through the sliding door a bunch of
curious courtesans look on fascinated.
The print below shows the ceremonial ‘graduation’ of
shinzo, or ‘newly made’ courtesans, which was an
important event in the Yoshiwara. After their years of
apprenticeship as kaburo the girls, when ready, would be
dressed in new finery and, during a week of celebrations,
would be paraded publicly through the Yoshiwara each
evening. Preceded by a servant carrying a lantern, the
four young girls, in identical kimonos, are followed by
their sponsoring oiran flanked by her two kaburo and
followed by other members of the House and servants.
Everywhere the fan motif of the Ogi-ya (House of the
Fan) can be seen advertising its presence.
41 93___
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4. Anonymous
Early eighteenth century. Part of a hand-painted scroll;
colours on silk. 81 x 5} in (21 x 14:5cem)

Although the work of the print artists is, by virtue of the

medium, more widely known for the prints than their
original paintings, most of the artists also executed
private commissions for wealthy patrons. Hand-painted
shunga scrolls are known to have been popular in
aristocratic and court circles from as early as the Heian
period (eighth to twelfth centuries AD). This is but one
design from a shunga scroll in Ukiyo-e style and probably
dates from the early eighteenth century. It is unsigned.
5. Harunobu (1724-1770)
1770. From ‘A comparison of beauties of the green houses’;
colour-printed book illustration. c.74 X 104in (19 X26:5cm)

The slim-wristed, winsome beauties of Harunobu form,

one of the high points of early colour printing in Japan.
This illustration shows the courtesan Shiratama, one of
the higher grade girls of the Tama-ya (House of the
Jewel). She is half-kneeling, holding a samisen, warmly
wrapped in an elegant winter robe patterned with snow-
laden bamboo. Her personal crest (mon), a formalized
glycinia bloom, is emblazoned on her sleeve. The picture
comes from a superb five-volume work portraying over
one hundred and sixty Yoshiwara beauties, each
inscribed with a seasonal haiku verse by Kasaya Saren.
6. Buncho (active 1765-1775)
Early 1770s. Chuban colour print. c.9¢ x 74in (25 X 19cm)

This relaxed, intimate scene shows two lovers reclining

on a triple-tiered mattress. They are listening to the
hototogisu, a songbird redolent with romantic imagery
and almost emblematic of the balmy days of summer.
The man is filling his pipe from a tobacco pouch. In
front of him is a lacquer tabako-bon, containing smoking
requisites. Beside the girl is a wad of folded paper tissues
which have a definite erotic connotation. They would be
used after love-making and their presence here, neatly
folded, indicates that the romantic evening has hardly
begun.
7. Harunobu (1724-1770)
c. 1768. Chuban colour print. c.92 x 74in (25 x 19cm)

Harunobu was the first artist to master the potential of

the full colour printing technique using multiple,
superimposed woodblocks. He has often been praised for
the ethereal charm of his slim, fragile beauties. It is not
always pointed out that he was also the foremost —
designer of erotica of his time. In this print he has
sketched in just sufficient background to convey the
pleasant atmosphere of a summer’s afternoon by a
country stream. It is worth noting how the printer has
managed to show the girl’s limbs through the flimsy
diaphanous material of her summer dress. The artist’s
signature appears on the fan.
8. Koryusai (active 1766-1788)
c.1770. Chuban colour print. c.9} x 74in (25 19cm)

Koryusai was born a samurai in the service of the lord

of Tsuchiya and renounced his rank to become a
commercial artist. His early work is much influenced by
Harunobu, with whom he probably studied. Shortly
after Harunobu published his successful shunga set,
Maneemon, in which a diminutive peeper was allowed to
glimpse scandalous affairs, Koryusai brought out his
own set using a tiny woman as a prying voyeuse. Here
she is found sitting on a lacquer tabako-bon, beside which
a pipe rests abandoned as the lovers lie intertwined, half
covered by the folds of a mosquito net.
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9. Koryusai (active 1766-1788)
c.1775. From ‘New patterns for young girls’; oban colour
print. c.15 X9in (38 X23cm)

Throughout the latter half of the 1770s Koryusai

produced a long array of fashion plates showing leading
courtesans. There are said to be at least eighty-nine
designs from this series alone, and further research may
yet reveal more. It was so popular that the publishers
later commissioned Kiyonaga and Shunzan to produce
further sets with the same title and format. Here the
courtesan, Mandayu, is sitting watching her two kaburo
who are playing sukeroku, a dice game in which counters
are moved around a board. She is leaning on further
games tables, a chequer-board and a go table. The
containers for the go counters are shown on a box on
the floor.
 S77
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10. Koryusai (active 1766-1788)
c.1770. Chuban colour print. c.93 x 74in (25 X 19cm)

The sliding wall which separates the wooden-floored

corridor, just visible at the bottom left, from the tatami,
the matted floor covering of the living quarters, has been
withdrawn. Concealed from each other’s view by a
folding screen are two couples. A courtesan and her
client are embracing on a striped mattress covered with
bed-clothes. His servant, meanwhile, is dallying with her
maid, who is plying him with sake, which has been
warmed in the iron kettle that she is holding.
ILL. Koryusal (active 1766-1788)
c.1770. Chuban colour print. c.93 x 74in (25 X19cm)

Koryusai produced a large output of shunga characterized

by an agile inventiveness of design that never wearies
the eye and often surprises by its novel viewpoints. Here
we are given an almost bird’s-eye view of a couple,
entwined, entirely naked, on a mattress on the floor. A
maidservant is peeping down at them over the top of a
folding screen. The perspective seems extraordinary but
serves to make a most effective composition. The almost
ubiquitous tabako-bon by the bed holds a small container
for pieces of live charcoal, with which to light a pipe,
and a smaller vessel to take the ashes.
13. Kiyonaga (1752-1815)
c.1785. Chuban colour print. c.9¢ x 74in (25 x 19cm)

The open-air privacy of a balcony offered a favourite

setting for love-making during the hot summer months.
The girl lying in the sun, however, screened from the .
awareness of the lovers by the sliding wall, has obviously
decided to remain concealed. It is not uncommon in
shunga to find sexual activity observed by an unperceived
third person. This may be a jealous spouse, an angry
mistress, a lecherous voyeur, a bored servant or,
sometimes, an innocent onlooker unintentionally part of
a scene which politeness dictates should not be
interrupted.
14. Eishi (1756-1829)
c.1790. Oban colour prints; two sheets of a triptych.
c.15 X18in (38 x46cm) .

Inside one of the brothels we find three men, one

apparently rather the worse for drink. There are four :
courtesans with two pink-robed attendants and two
geisha, Itsuhana and Itsutomi, each with a samisen.
Geisha were entertainers, hired by the hour to provide
music and to help the party ‘go with a swing’, but who
were strictly forbidden to trespass on the courtesans’
trade. Amid these revellers Eishi has put a host of small
allegorical figures. The pleading, anxious little spirits
Wearing green and white robes have faces composed of
the Japanese character, zen, or virtue; the taunting,
jeering faces of their opponents with pink loin cloths
bear the character aku, vice. The occupants of the room
appear quite oblivious to both.
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15. Kitao Masanobu (1761-1816)
1784. From ‘The autographs of Yoshiwara beauties’; oban
colour-printed diptych. c.15 x 18in (38 x46cm)

An elegant style of calligraphy was much prized in Japan

and for the oiran, much given to exchanging love-letters
with their favourite clients, the possession of an educated
and refined script was mandatory. This illustration
comes from a superb, large album, in which classical
poems, in the handwriting of famous courtesans, are
matched with portraits of the girls. The artist was the
precocious, witty, fun-loving extrovert Kitao Masanobu.
He was only twenty-three when he was commissioned
by one of the foremost Edo publishers to design this
opulent album. Only a few years later he forsook print
design and became famous as an author, a poet and a
successful businessman.
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16. Shuncho (active 1780-1800)
c.1785. Aiban colour print. c.134+ x 8#in (34 x22cm)

Shuncho, who was Kiyonaga’s foremost follower,

produced some of the most beautiful erotic pictures of
the era. Although it had been Kiyonaga who had
established the fashion in bijin-e for more naturally
robust beauties after the slender, petite girls of
Harunobu’s generation, it was Shuncho who used the
new style to its full advantage in the shunga prints and,
in this field, he is generally acknowledged to have
surpassed his master.
The girl’s gesture, raising her sleeve to her mouth, was
conventional, implying that she was experiencing
emotions that she dare not express vocally. The
restrained colouring, known as beni-girai (red-avoiding),
is typical of some of Shuncho’s best work at this time.
 BLO wh
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17. Shuncho (active 1780-1800)
c.1785. Aiban colour print. 134 x 8#in (34 22cm)

Shuncho’s erotic works frequently place great emphasis

on the giving of sexual pleasure. Here the preliminaries
are far advanced, the girl is leaning back, eyes closed,
her clothes in disarray. The curling of her toes indicates
the intensity of her sensations. It is noteworthy that
although her state is one of otherwise totally dishevelled
abandon, her stylish hair-do, such an important feature
of Japanese femininity, remains unaffected. Behind her a
folded screen is propped against a bundle of bedding. A
tray with bowls of prepared food lies untouched on the
floor, and a wad of folded paper tissues is half hidden
beneath the folds of her obi.
18. Shuncho (active 1780-1800)
c.1800. Oban colour print. c.15 X9in (38 X23cm)

This impressive bust portrait shows Hanaogi of the

Ogi-ya (House of the Fan) which was probably the most
famous house in the Yoshiwara (see also plate 3a).
Certainly Hanaogi (Flower Fan) was the most renowned
courtesan of her day. Noted for her beauty, she was also
a celebrated poet and calligraphist and was much praised
for her special devotion to her elderly mother. She used
the house mon (emblem), three fans in a circle, which
can be seen on her kimono and on one of the combs in
her hair.
 Se URC oe
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19. Shuncho (active 1780-1800)
c.1785. Aiban colour print. c.134 x 8?in (34 x 22cm)

The girl in this print is a courtesan, not from the

Yoshiwara, but from the Yagura-shita at Fukagawa, one
of the smaller, unlicensed pleasure quarters of Edo. Said
to have had a more homely, simple atmosphere than its
larger rival, it was favoured by those who liked its
relative informality.
The girl’s mon, a motif of ginko blossom, can be seen
on the sleeve of her robe and is also shown on the
lacquer cabinet behind her and on the padded headrest
in the foreground. Such headrests were used, when
sleeping, instead of pillows and helped to preserve the
hair from disarrangement, the full coiffeur being renewed
only about once a week.
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20. Shuncho (active 1780-1800)
c.1785. From ‘The twelve seasons of lovemaking’; oban
colour print. c.15 X9in (38 X 23cm)

One of Shuncho’s most distinguished shunga sets links

the designs to the twelve months. This picture is
emblematic of December. On the thirteenth day of the
twelfth month there occurred mainen susuharai, the
annual ‘Sweeping Day’, a form of spring-cleaning in
preparation for the New Year. Clothes have been hung
out to air and the girl’s brush is lying on the floor,
disregarded where it fell when she was interrupted.
21. Toyokuni (1769-1825)
1802. From ‘Modern figures of fashion’; colour-printed
book illustration. c.74 x 104in (19 X26:5cm)

We are taken behind the scenes at the Yoshiwara to see

a group of five girls of the third grade relaxing in their
living quarters. The mirror in a lacquer box on a stand,
the samisen hanging from a hook on the wall and the
bundles of clothing and bedding draped over a rail or
strewn on the floor, serve to strike a note of domesticity.
By the window two girls are discussing a long love
letter, with paper and a tray of writing materials beside
them on the floor. In the centre a girl is proudly
displaying her arm, tattooed with the name of her
current lover.
{
22. Utamare (1754-1806)
CDRO Our caller pron, TS x Mae fe xem
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Witte the Gath Rares wet BAVA Kees ary

the ature her Bxhionahe BE & the Meaaere Quarters, the
CORE BANE Eegaensy have yearned for the wale Sh
tranquility of marred BR. URemare hes shown ws a gh
ber fee hak covered Dy & Tramgmarent green Ba: Game
over @ book and Grane of her wedding Procession.
The eet draws a araeay with the Rgend af Resi. 2
Chimes wholer who Rl akkes an @ magic plow and
Greamed of homoars heaged an hha by 2 gratia
Breerer, aly % wake Ghai.
23. Utamaro (1754-1806)
c.1793. Oban colour print. c.15 X9in (38 X 23cm)

During the early 1790s competition between publishers

of prints of beautiful girls seems to have reached fever
pitch. A succession of eye-catching techniques were .
evolved and here, a glowing, plain yellow ground helps
offset the simplicity of this courtesan at her toilet. Her
hair, freshly washed, has been casually pinned up prior
to its styling. A white cosmetic has already been applied
to the face and neck and her teeth have been blackened.
With a slight frown of concentration she is applying lip-
rouge with a brush, carefully studying the result in a
hand mirror.
24. Utamaro (1754-1806)
c.1793. From ‘Pictures of beauties making up’; oban colour
print. c.15 X9in (38 X23cm)

Japanese male cynics said that the looking glass was the
mind of a woman. As a theme, the pretty girl and her
mirror was repeated by artist after artist. None succeeded ~
better than Utamaro’s brilliant design shown here. The
use of burnished mica to highlight the glass of the mirror
was one of his most impressive effects, using a technique
which was then the height of fashion with the print-
buying public. The result is certainly one of his finest
prints.
We know that this print must have been popular,
since at least two editions are recorded. The other
version, otherwise identical, has the series title A mirror
of seven persons hairdressing and shows a mon of
paulownia blossom on the girl’s sleeve.
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25. Utamaro (1754-1806)
c.1793. From ‘Six crystal rivers’; oban colour print.
c.15 X9in (38 X23cm)

The courtesan Hana-murasaki (Violet Flower) of the

Kado-tama-ya is sitting gazing at the mirror held for her
by her attendant. The six ‘Crystal Rivers’ of the title were ~
renowned for their limpid clarity and each was
traditionally linked to a poem from the classical
anthologies. In this instance the poem, by Toshiyori
(twelfth century), starts ‘Tomorrow we shall come again
to the crystal river by the meadow-path, where the
bush-clover grows...’ and the allusion is portrayed in
the pattern on the girl’s robe. Further, in the circular
cartouche above, an apt contemporary poem reads, ‘Ah
me, the lover that promises to come again tomorrow!
He is like a wave gliding on Tama stream’ (trans.
Laurence Binyon), which gives a rather sad flavour to
this beautiful print.
26. Utamaro (1754-1806)
c.1795. From ‘The twelve hours of the green houses’; oban
colour print. c.15 X9in (38 X23cm)

The twelve hours of the green houses, one of Utamaro’s

most impressive sets, shows courtesans and their daily
round of activities. In Japan the hours of daylight and
darkness were each divided into six periods of about two
hours, each designated by a sign of the zodiac. This is
the hour of the Monkey (3pm—5pm) and the famous
courtesan Hanaogi (see also plate 18) is shown on her
afternoon parade through the Yoshiwara with her shinzo
and kaburo. The latter is almost completely hidden, only
the top of her head and her hair decorations being just
visible above Hanaogi’s obi. The title cartouche is in the
form of a bracket-clock with a bell above and two
counterweights suspended on cords beneath.
27. Utamaro (1754-1806)
c.1795. From ‘The twelve hours of the green houses’; oban
colour print. c.15 X9in (38 X23cm)

From the same series as plate 26, this represents the hour
of the Cock (Spm-—7pm). A courtesan, summoned to an
assignation, is preparing to set out accompanied by a'
servant with a lantern. The lantern, which folds down
like a concertina to allow the wick to be lit, is being
pulled up towards the retaining hook. It bears the device
of the three fans in a circle, the mon of the Ogi-ya
(House of the Fan).
The elegance of the tall, slender courtesan, accentuated
by the contrast with the maidservant, is typical of this
splendid set. The designs are superbly printed and stand
out against a yellow background sprinkled with gold
dust.
28. Utamaro (1754-1806)
1788. From ‘The poem of the pillow’; oban colour print.
C15 X9int3s x 2sem)

One of Utamaro’s best-known, earliest, most beautiful

erotic albums carried part of his name punningly in its
title, Uta-makura, ‘The Poem of the Pillow’. The pictures
are full of emotional intensity and dramatic contrasts.
The designs are brilliantly conceived and the colours and
printing are technically superb.
A couple are making love on a balcony. He is watching
her intently as she tenderly caresses his cheek. His hand
is resting on the nape of her neck, an area of special
erotic interest for the Japanese. His fan, held casually
open, is inscribed with a poem which compares his
position to a bird, its beak trapped in a bivalve shell,
unable to fly away.
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29. Utamaro (1754-1806)
1788. From ‘The poem of the pillow’; oban colour print.
C159 (38 <Z3cm)

The Utamakura is characterized by the way that it

portrays the range of emotions potentially involved when
love and passion are aroused. Here anger and jealousy
on the part of the woman, sparked off by finding a love-
letter from an unsuspected rival, have interrupted their
rendezvous. The way that she clutches at his kimono
and the tell-tale dishevelment of her hair bespeak the
intensity of her emotions, unappeased by his defensive
gesture of placation. Behind her a black iron kettle
stands on a tripod on a charcoal brazier.
 ae

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30. Utamaro (1754-1806)
1788. From ‘The poem of the pillow’; oban colour print.
c.15 X9in (38 X 23cm)

This beautifully balanced composition shows Utamaro at

his best. In the background, standing screens decorated
with plum blossom and bamboo provide straight lines
and acute angles to contrast with the flowing curves of
the lovers. By cutting off part of the design at the bottom
and allowing part of the man’s top-knot to protrude out
of the picture at the top the artist gives us the impression
of close physical involvement in the scene.
31. Utamaro (1754-1806)
1788. From ‘The poem of the pillow’; oban colour print.
CLS Ii (S8 <Zocn)

The crisp clarity of the superb printing, characteristic of

this album, helps to convey the open air freshness in this
picture of lovers under a tree in springtime. In the
distance small green hillocks are surmounted by
flowering cherry trees. As usual, special attention is paid
to the girl’s fashionable patterned clothing. The design of
chrysanthemum blooms on the obi is particularly
effective. She is holding a wad of paper tissues in her
left hand.
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32. Eisho (active 1789-1801)
c.1795. From ‘A comparison of beauties within the
enclosure’; oban colour print. c.15 X9in (38 X23cm)

Eisho is the most commonly encountered artist of the

small but talented group under the tutelage of Eishi, and
this striking, half-length portrait is typical of his best °
work. The courtesan Kasugano of the Sasa-ya is shown
using a fold of her loose bath-wrap to dry her neck. The
bold, stellate, printed pattern of the cotton was obviously
very fashionable at the time as several other artists,
including Utamaro, illustrated similarly patterned
materials at about the same date.
by:c é oa .
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33. Eisho (active 1789-1801)
c.1800. From ‘Models of calligraphy’; oban colour print.
c.15 x 9in (38 X23cm)

In spite of a policy of excluding all foreigners from their

islands, the Japanese allowed a small Dutch colony at,
Nagasaki. This proved a useful trading post for the
Japanese government and a source of continual wonder
and curiosity for the ordinary Japanese people. It is not
common to find foreigners depicted in shunga and, in
this case, the design is clearly based on that of a Dutch
couple by Utamaro in the Uta-makura of a dozen years
before. Emphasis is placed on the outlandish garb, the
long fingernails and the luxuriant beard and moustaches
of this ‘hairy barbarian’. A wisp of fragrant smoke rises
from an incense burner on the small European table.
 CVO BONA
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34. Kuniyasu (1794-1832)
c.1830. Oban colour print. c.15 < 9in (38 X23cm)

The three-stringed samisen was the most popular musical

instrument for everyday entertainment. It was played
using a plectrum such as that in this girl’s right hand.
In her other hand sheis carrying a wad of paper tissues
and one of the shallow cups used for serving sake, the
rice wine which was usually drunk hot and which was
a feature of any festive gathering. She is wearing a
kimono patterned with chidori, a species of plover which
the Japanese said was born from the froth off the crests
of waves.
 Ra
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35. Kikumaru (active 1795-1818)
c.1800. Oban colour print. c.15 x 9in (38 X23cm)

The formal ritual of preparing and serving the specially

ground green tea used in the tea-ceremony required a
strict adherence to etiquette. Originally part of a refined
aesthetic cult linked with Zen ideals in which a small :
party of nobles and literati would meet in seclusion, it
later became popular in an attenuated form for those
with pretensions to cultural pursuits. Here the courtesan
Ainare, an inmate of the Kado-ebi-ya, is polishing a tea
bowl. Before her lie some of the implements needed for
the ceremony: a bamboo ladle on a special stand; a thin
sliver of bamboo used for spooning the powdered tea
balancing on a crystal bowl; a split bamboo whisk with
which to mix the tea into a froth; and a crackle-glaze
porcelain water-jar.
aoeeel aa
pe oe
(of oar meses (
36. Eizan (1787-1867)
c.1815. From ‘Tamanoto meisho monogatari’; colour-
printed book illustration. c.6 X 8in (15 X20-5cm)

This erotic guide book places sexual encounters in noted

beauty spots. In this scene the artist has placed the lovers
in the garden of a famous river-side tea-house. The
whole scene is bathed in moonlight. The verandah is lit
by paper lanterns and through the translucent paper of
the walls can be seen the silhouettes of the revellers
within, singing, drinking and dancing to the music of
the samisen. Such a scene would have been very
evocative to the pleasure-loving citizens of Edo.
_ ae 4a iia ae ae
37. Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)
1837. From ‘Flowers with abundant benefits’; colour-
printed book illustration. 7 x 54in (18 x 13-5cm)

This frontispiece to a shunga book shows a girl at her

toilet. In contrast to the pictures of courtesans with their
splendid robes, Kuniyoshi shows us the figure of a bare-
backed girl. The print is skilfully designed to concentrate
attention on her neck, and must have had particular
impact and appeal at the time. The nape of the neck, one
of the few parts of a Japanese woman which was usually
uncovered, had a special erotic interest and fascination
for the Japanese. The fine draughtsmanship and superb
composition are typical of this artist, who was one of the
great print designers of the nineteenth century.
38. Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)
c.1855. From Komoncho, ‘A notebook of small patterns’;
colour-printed book illustration. c.74 x 104in (19 X26:5cm)

All passion is spent. The scattered bedclothes and the

used tissues tell their tale. The satiated girl lies with a «
languorous half-smile, her eyes closed, while her lover
leans under the mosquito curtain to pour out a cup of
tea. Seldom has the aftermath of relaxed and happy
love-making been more strikingly portrayed. Kuniyoshi
was one of the most prolific and popular artists of the
second quarter of the nineteenth century. He illustrated
more than forty shunga books. One of the finest of these,
Komoncho was published in three volumes, each
containing about half a dozen of his best erotic designs.
39. Utamaro (1754-1806)
1804. From ‘Annals of the green houses’; colour-printed
book illustration. c.74+ x 105in (19 x26:5cm)

This print shows daybreak in the Yoshiwara and the

revelry and passion is over. Amid the early morning
bustle screens are being rearranged, the brazier is stirred
into fresh life and tea is being prepared. Isolated and
aloof now, the customer is sitting on a ledge by the’
window, staring out at the snow softly falling in the
grey dawn outside.
 :BSN

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40. Hokusai (1760-1849)
1821. From ‘Manpoku wago-jin’; colour-printed book
illustration. 73 x 5zin (19 x 13-25cm)

The wide-ranging talent and eccentric, intensely

individual style of Hokusai dominated the art of the
Japanese print throughout the first third of the nineteenth
century. In this picture, the frontispiece to one of his
best erotic books, he personified the sex organs as a
paunchy couple, standing on a rocky shore, affectionately
holding hands, their arms around each other’s shoulders.
Acknowledgements
THE AUTHOR AND BLACKER CALMANN COOPER LTD would like to thank the museums and collectors
who allowed works in their collections to be reproduced in this book, including the British
Museum (plates 2, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (plates 9, 15,
WS Se) SE SIS),
 EN
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Other titles in the Art for All series

Pre-Columbian art Michael Grey

Japanese prints Cecilia Whitford
African masks Robert Bleakley
Erotic art of India Philip Rawson
Paul Klee Robert Short

GALLERY BOOKS
An Imprint of W. H. Smith Publishers Inc.
112 Madison Avenue
New York City 10016

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