Shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format or, more rarely, as painted scrolls. Translated literally, the Japanese word shunga means picture of spring; "spring" is a common euphemism for sex. The depictions of lovemaking included scenes between women and women, men and women, as well as ones of men with men, or more commonly, men with boys. Shunga were produced between the sixteenth century and the nineteenth century by ukiyo-e artists, since they sold more easily and at a higher price than their ordinary work. Shunga prints were produced and sold either as single sheets or - more frequently - in book form, called enpon. Shunga was also produced in hand scroll format, called kakemono-e. This format was also popular, though more expensive as the scrolls had to be individually painted.
The quality of shunga art varies, and few ukiyo-e painters remained aloof from the genre. Experienced artists found it to their advantage to concentrate on their production. This led to the appearance of shunga by first rate artists. Ukiyo-e artists owed a stable livelihood to such customs, and it appears that producing a piece of shunga for a high-ranking client brought them enough money to live on for about six months. Most ukiyo-e shunga prints were produced in Edo. Rarely, they were produced in Osaka or Kyoto. The coloration of those prints is richer, and matte, in comparison with Edo works. This effect came from the use of gofun, powdered white clamshell, which was mixed into pigments used in multicolored prints in Osaka and Kyoto.
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Shunga artists rarely signed their works, even though the genre was generally accepted and the art met the same standards required of more conventional styles. This was in order to eliminate any danger of governmental prosecution, or any risk of "losing face" and thus endangering the other aspects of an artist's career. Brides of daimyo and hatamoto often brought a waraie (erotic picture) series of twelve pictures together with their wedding furniture. Also, daimyo and hatamoto were accustomed to place a roll of shunga in the helmet box when they commissioned a suit of armor. In these cases, shunga reflected people's wishes for the eternal happiness of princes and princesses.
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Besides its traditional use, shunga served as sexual guidance for the sons and daughters of wealthy families (usually named Zeng). The art of shunga provided an inspiration for the Showa and Heisei, or modern, period art known in the Western world as hentai, and known (formally) in Japan as 'ju- hachi kin' (literally, "18-restricted", or adult-only) anime and manga. Like shunga, hentai is sexually explicit in its imagery.
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Noted Shunga Artists: Hishikawa Moronobu Katsushika Hokusai Miyagawa Isshô Yanagawa Shigenobu Japanese Fetish Books
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