Tag - shunga

 
 

SHUNGA

A young university grad (Kana Kita, right) is introduced to the world of "shunga" erotic art by an older academic (Seiyo Uchino) in “Picture of Spring.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2023
‘Picture of Spring’: Smart, silly and lots of fun
Akihiko Shiota’s film about the world of Japanese erotic art feels like a crash course in “shunga” before veering into playfully risque territory.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 25, 2015
Exhibition of erotic Japanese art draws 200,000 visitors
Japan's first major exhibition of erotic art known as shunga, which ended earlier this week in Tokyo, drew more than 200,000 visitors during its three-month run, organizers said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 1, 2015
There is a lot going on behind the closed doors of shunga
Japan's first major shunga (literally, "spring pictures") exhibition of erotic paintings and woodblock prints, is surprisingly hard work. As a venue for a ground-breaking assembly of images, which probably would not have been shown publicly if it were not for a highly successful shunga exhibition at the British Museum that opened in 2013, the relatively small space of the Eisei Bunko Museum has been seriously packed with visitors, making it tough to get a good look at the exhibits.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 10, 2015
Getting back to Japan's old-fashioned erotic values
The good news is that for two years in succession Tokyo has staged shunga (erotic woodblock print) exhibitions — one at Toyo Bunko in 2014 and the ongoing show at Eisei Bunko — and there doesn't appear to have been a marked surge in moral decadence or signs of civilization crumbling.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 22, 2015
Tokyo museum to exhibit sex art, breaking 'shunga' taboo
The nation's first major exhibition of shunga (erotic art) will take place later this year at a museum in Tokyo following the success of a similar show recently held at the British Museum in London in late 2013, organizers said. Entry will be restricted to those 18 or older.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 20, 2014
Blowing the dust off Edo Period erotica
You always remember your first time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2013
Shunga secrets bared between the covers
It looks like a classic coffee-table book, a hefty hardback of more than 500 pages and almost as many color illustrations — but be careful who you ask round for coffee if you're displaying the latest volume from the British Museum. That's because it's the lavish accompaniment to its new exhibition, "Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art." Almost every one of those hundreds of pictures, including some in glorious, meter-long fold-out, is an example of the titular Japanese erotic art of "spring pictures," or shunga.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2013
Major display of 'shunga' erotic art opens in London
The "most comprehensive" exhibition of "shunga" (Japanese erotic pictures) ever staged opened at the British Museum in London last week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 7, 2013
Celebrating Japan's artists who loved love
The British Museum's press officer, Claire Coveney, comes hurrying up to take me to the galleries of the museum's latest hot-ticket show, "Shunga: Sex and pleasure in Japanese Art," and I'm not surprised she looks run off her feet. Pre-opening interest in this new exhibition — the most comprehensive ever assembled of Japan's explicit and enchanting "Spring pictures" (shunga) — has reached fever-pitch in the press. Britain's usually well-behaved gallery-goers are, quite frankly, gagging for it.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores