Old School Erotica

September 26, 2005 3:42 PM

Japanese Shunga & Other Erotica (NSFW) : "In these examples of Japanese shunga we see a great variety of lovemaking techniques, situations, positions and possibilities. Whether heterosexual or homosexual, the diversity of sexual behaviors expressed within this artform offer a glimpse of the sexual freedoms available in previous eras and cultures."
posted by ddf (32 comments total)

Geez...I thought Japanese tentacle porn was something knew. Shattered my world view, this did.
posted by Kickstart70 at 3:46 PM on September 26, 2005

s/knew/new/
posted by Kickstart70 at 3:46 PM on September 26, 2005

[Top shelf.]
posted by undule at 3:52 PM on September 26, 2005

Are the men comicly large because they're the ones commissioning the drawings?
posted by null terminated at 3:58 PM on September 26, 2005

Just in: modern tentacle shunga.

PuffiAmiYumi does Cthulu!
posted by rdone at 3:59 PM on September 26, 2005

-- from the same site, interesting sculpture, toward the bottom in particular.
posted by undule at 4:02 PM on September 26, 2005

Man inserting dildo into woman’s vagina
4.75 x 7 inches $400. Click to enlarge.

4.75? Is that circumference or diameter?
posted by dsword at 4:14 PM on September 26, 2005

Are the men comicly large because they're the ones commissioning the drawings?

Because the pictures were so small, the focus of the pictures needed to be rendered larger than life.
posted by ddf at 4:24 PM on September 26, 2005

There's something terribly comical about the man in this picture (NSFW obviously), don't you think?
posted by clevershark at 4:36 PM on September 26, 2005

Excuse me, but what's going on in this one?
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:40 PM on September 26, 2005

dsword wrote:

4.75? Is that circumference or diameter?

---

Heh, true. Width, methinks.
posted by crocos at 4:41 PM on September 26, 2005

thirteenkiller writes "Excuse me, but what's going on in this one?"

Evidently the Japanese enthusiasm for the, er, manual aspects of male-female sex is not something that started in recent movies...
posted by clevershark at 4:44 PM on September 26, 2005

The sad thing is, this kind of graphic depiction is no longer legal here. Most Japanese will probably never see this part of their history. Thanks a lot America.
posted by nightchrome at 4:48 PM on September 26, 2005

The women are also comically large...

Odd that I knew all the answers to the questions asked. Perhaps I'm a little too "interested" in this post.
posted by artifarce at 4:57 PM on September 26, 2005

But clevershark, the poop! What about the poop?
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:57 PM on September 26, 2005

nightchrome: I thought the Diet ended the censorship laws a couple of years back? Didn't I read an article here about the newly freed publishing industry showing pubes in ads in mainstream magazines?
posted by sotonohito at 6:08 PM on September 26, 2005

No Zodiac position for my year :_(
posted by tellurian at 6:10 PM on September 26, 2005

sotonohito, as far as I know they did not end them but merely revised them. Pubes are okay, genitals are still out. Most porn works around it by clever use of mosaic tiling, but even so, showing the naughty bits is a no-no.
Amusingly enough, this has caused many soft-core pornographers to "overdose" on pubes to cover up genitals. Look at any softcore japanese porn (simple nudes) and you will often see women with what looks like a full-grown tribble between their legs extending from front to back.
posted by nightchrome at 6:13 PM on September 26, 2005

But clevershark, the poop! What about the poop?

Erm..., I don't think that is poop, but rather his veined member on the low down.
posted by qwip at 6:15 PM on September 26, 2005

But clevershark, the poop! What about the poop?

Erm..., I don't think that is poop, but rather his veined member on the low down.
posted by qwip at 8:15 PM CST on September 26 [!]

or, poop on his veined member on the low down...
posted by HyperBlue at 6:19 PM on September 26, 2005

It should be noted that even the quantity of the sperm ejaculated is exaggerated to the point of overflow.

medieval bukkake?
posted by PenguinBukkake at 6:35 PM on September 26, 2005

thirteenkiller writes "But clevershark, the poop! What about the poop?"

I hadn't noticed that. Ewwwww! I guess one can now credit the Japanese for inventing scheisseporn as well?!?
posted by clevershark at 7:14 PM on September 26, 2005

This site doesn't provide the same scholarly insight, but the painting titles sure are funny.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 7:18 PM on September 26, 2005

"This site doesn't provide the same scholarly insight, but the painting titles sure are funny."

Yikes! Frankly if I ever go to someone' house and they have this print framed on a wall, I'd probably take my leave rather quickly.
posted by clevershark at 7:41 PM on September 26, 2005

Gotu sekuse! (obviously and severely nsfw)
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:53 PM on September 26, 2005

sotonohito and nightcrome,

As a great fan of Japonica generally, and Japanese wood blook prints particularly (huge Utamaro fan), I'm horrified to find that this art is outlawed in Japan.

I've always considered the Japanese matter of fact attitude towards sex to be much more civilized than American or European puritanism.

What caused the change in attitude to shunga? When were the laws passed? How did this happen?
posted by astonealeafanunfounddoor at 8:38 PM on September 26, 2005

astonealeafanunfounddoor,
The anti-porn laws were passed by the American Occupation authorities after Japan's defeat in WWII. This is why all Japanese porn is pixelated, blocking out the genital area.
posted by Sangermaine at 8:44 PM on September 26, 2005

Like I said, thanks a lot America.
posted by nightchrome at 8:48 PM on September 26, 2005

If you want more information about Japanese sexual mores and behaviours consider the somewhat dubiously titled, "Pink Samurai" which has a decent compressed history of Japan and provides somewhat dated but interesting material.
posted by jadepearl at 9:38 PM on September 26, 2005

Yikes! Frankly if I ever go to someone' house and they have this print framed on a wall, I'd probably take my leave rather quickly.

But, wow, you can send it as an ecard!
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 2:35 AM on September 27, 2005

"As for the animated porn I did watch in hopes of gleaning some insight into the Japanese id? I have this to say: Go away, Japanese id! You are scary! I am scared of you!"

- Seth Stevenson. Slate.
posted by dgaicun at 3:07 AM on September 27, 2005

It's like they were predicting scenes from my life.
posted by maxsparber at 9:13 AM on September 27, 2005