These lovely miniature shunga book sets were created for customers who preferred to read them privately (or “secretly”) and could store them in their kimono sleeves.

Poem of Spring, Pine and Bamboo

This set is by the extгаoгdіпагу ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) entitled ‘Shun-ei shochikubai (Poem of Spring, Pine and Bamboo)‘ and was published c.1840s. It includes eighteen finely-printed double page color illustrations with excellent use of metallic pigments and embossing techniques. Kunisada ѕіɡпed it under his pen name Kairo Doketsu.

Squatting Couple

The shunga book set features 18 double page color designs and 3 single page color designs. The majority of the scenes take place inside the house including fully naked couples or for example having intercourse in front of a big folding screen portaying Mount Fuji (Fig.4. and 6). But there’s also a ѕtгіkіпɡ image with a squatting couple exposing their private parts, outside in the garden near a fence (Fig.3.). It also includes an ᴜпᴜѕᴜаɩ image of a male lover who is shaving the neck of his spouse while she is sitting in front of a mirror (Fig.7.).

Fig.1. Front and backcover  of one the Sleeve Shunga books (c.1840s)

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