10 Most Sensual Lesbian
Sex Scenes in Shunga.
| Shunga,
literally "Images of Spring", is the generic term used to
describe erotic prints, books, scrolls and paintings of Japan.
Introduction
From all the subjects and themes
within shunga probably the most coveted are the prints depicting
female-female love. In the treatment of the following ten lesbian
oriented shunga designs in this article there are two prints included
(the first and the last) which are more suggestive and less explicit
but in my opinion, with their eye for female beauty and comical
detail, a true addition to this specific theme. |
>
 |
Kuniyoshi
- Grooming Scene
A comical image
depicting a dressing room in a brothel with the activities of five
courtesans joking around with one of their sleeping colleagues.
Look
for the chagrined facial expression of the courtesan on the left who
is grooming her mons veneris. This design from the 1840s displays Kuniyoshi's comic genius in full
effect.
|
>
 |
Hokusai
- Entangled
|
|
From Hokusai's classic shunga ehon
(book) series Kinoe no komatsu (Young Pine Saplings) published
in 1814, which also includes his famous Octopus design, a passionate
lesbian encounter between two young women. They are in a very tight
embrace with the girl below in an almost ecstatic pose. The girl on
top is wearing a harigata (dildo). The wrinkled undergarment
was Hokusai's beloved detail he used in his shunga work.
|
|
Eiri
- Lubricant
|
|
Probably the most famous lesbian scene in
shunga from Eiri's excellent oban series Models of Calligraphy consisting
of 12 designs. One of the girls is wearing a huge >
harigata,
which is held by the other girl, while she's using a lubricant to put on the
artificial phallus. Due to its controversial impact at the time (1801) this
lesbian shunga scene was omitted from later editions.
More info on this design you can find in the
following two articles: >
Article
2 >
Article 3
|
|
Kuniyoshi
- Kabuki Mask
A highly unusual lesbian design with the girl on top
wearing a kabuki-mask pretending she's the favourite kabuki
actor (a Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp of their day) the other girl is fantasizing
about. Two amused women are peeking through a small hole in a sliding door.
|
 |
Eizan
- Lesbian Girl Taken From Behind
In a confined setting two lesbian lovers are having
sex.
The girl underneath is in an excited state while the girl on top uses the
dildo to penetrate her from behind. The on-looking cat is comic detail often
used in shunga. (especially by Hokusai and Kuniyoshi)
|
|
Eisen - Double-Sided Dildo
Two girls enjoying themselves using a double-sided
dildo.
In this design both faces of the female protagonists are hidden.
>
Click
here for a comparable design.
|
>
 |
|
Kuniyoshi - Old Woman
An older woman uses a rather unorthodox way of
introducing a young girl into her adult life by grapping her vagina. The
shungabooks behind them and the erotic scroll in front of them emphasize the
preceeding visual education. A design from a shungabook series by Kuniyoshi,
published in the 1840s.
|
> 
|
|
>
|
Hokusai - Sea-Cucumber
Two awabi (abalone) divers are caught in an
intimate moment in this marvellous work of art by Hokusai (dated 1810s). One
of the girls uses a sea-cucumber, as a improvised dildo, with the sea in the
background as their silent witness. Awabi or Ama diver was (and
is) a profession practised by women who dive for pearls.
|
|
|
Shuncho
- Tortoise Shell Dildo
|
|
This print
by Shuncho (published around 1800) has a striking use of color
combination with beautiful green accents. The decoration on the folding
screen behind this loving lesbian couple gives it a very realistic feel
as if they are actually in the open-air. The girl on top is sporting a
deluxe tortoise-shell harigata and both are wearing transparant
hair ribbons. In the past this print has been falsely attributed to
Utamaro.
|
|
Kunisada
- Awabi Divers at the Sea Shore
|
>
 |
In this last shunga print, from an
abuna-e (dangerous
or risque pictures) like style book designed by Kunisada in c.1840, an image
with a more suggestive lesbian undertone. Depicted are four awabi divers
fishing for pearls at the sea shore.
One of them is holding a knife (for
opening the oysters) between her teeth while wringing out her dress while two
others are drying themselves near a fire. The pearl diver diving into the
waves is beautifully counterbalanced with the breaking waves on the rocks
making it such a dynamic scene.
|
|
Some
of the prints treated in this article are available in
>> our
gallery If you are a
shunga lover or collector please don’t hesitate to contact
us if you have any questions/inquiries on the items we are
offering: >>
e-mail. |
|
