Disquieting Scenes of Forced Lovemaking In Shunga Art

In shunga, rapists are mainly depicted as Yakuza or thieves, easily recognizable by their black clothing and scarfs (Fig.1), or as highway bandits (Fig.2), sometimes stealing the woman's clothes.

Perpetrators

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Fig.1.

Wetting the Fingers

An unfortunate female has an unwanted encounter with 3 ruffians (Fig.1). The heavily tattooed (faded in this print) bandit leader is preparing for penetration by wetting his fingers. The illustration comes from an unidentified book series issued around 1830 and attributed to Utagawa Kunitora.

Fig.1a.

Fig,2.

Tied Victim

This koban-sized print (c.1789) by Katsukawa Shuncho depicts a highway bandit raping a tied female victim. The curled toes of the female suggest that she is enjoying it. 

Fig.2a.

Fig.3.

Spectacled Rapist

Figure 3 features a notorious rape scene with three villains in a darkened room humiliating a woman. The leading man, who is wearing spectacles, penetrates his victim while holding a candle. The design comes from the book 'Byokei ri goyoshi ga' (c.1830) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). In the past it was suggested among shunga devotees that the spectacled rapist is the artist himself.

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Click HERE for a striking shunga tableau deicting the ghastly rape of a seamstress.