History of Shunga

Shunga has its origins in China. It is thought that shunga were initially inspired by illustrations in Chinese medical manuals, a process which had its origins in the Muromachi era (1336 to 1573). Zhou Fang, the great T'ang Dynasty Chinese erotic painter, is thought to also have been influential. He, like many erotic artists of his time and place, tended to exaggerate the size of the genital organs, a common shunga topos. While the literal meaning of the word, 'shunga,' is significant, it is in fact a contraction of, 'shunkyu-higa,' the Japanese name for Chinese sets of twelve scrolls depicting the twelve sexual acts that the crown prince had to carry out as an expression of yin-yang.

In Japan, Shunga goes back to the Heian period. At this point it was the reserve of the courtier class. Through the medium of narrative handscrolls, sexual scandals from the imperial court or the monasteries were depicted, and the characters tended to be limited to courtiers and monks.
The style reached its apex in the Edo period (1603 to 1867). Thanks to woodblock printing techniques, the quantity and quality increased dramatically. There were repeated governmental attempts to suppress shunga, the first of which was an edict issued by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1661 banning, among other things, erotic books known as kōshokubon (好色本). While other genres covered by the edict, such as works criticising daimyo or samurai, were driven underground by this edict, Shunga continued to be produced with little difficulty. The 1722 edict was much more strict, banning the production of all new books unless the city commissioner gave permission, and after this edict Shunga went underground. However, since for several decades following this edict publisher's guilds saw fit to send their members repeated reminders not to sell erotica, it seems probable that production and sale continued to flourish

Two Lovers
Katsushika Hokusai, The Adonis Plant (Fukujusô) Woodblock print, from a set of 12, ôban ca. 1815