The video below features a delicately refined shunga scroll portraying the adventures of an adolescent boy and girl who undergo various intimate stages exploring his sexual identity. The erotic encounters take place in various settings with different persons.
Fig.1. ´An experienced girl with a male virgin´(c.1850s)
Monk
The paintings show people of all walks of life such as a Buddhist monk (Fig.4.), samurai warriors of different ranks (Fig.2. and 3), an old man and young girl, an experienced girl with a male virgin (Fig.1.) and affectionate peers.
Gay Reference
The scroll has fourteen paintings and the gay reference is rather explicit with at least four panels that I can discern as homo-erotic. Striking are the scenes in which the recurring young hero meets a gigantic samurai lord (Fig.2. and 3)
Fig.2. ´Colossal Samurai lord and young subordinate´ (c.1850s)
A big high-ranked samurai is seducing an inexperienced adolescent. The naginata (Japanese halberd) of the man with the brown-colored face stands to the railing and his tiger-skinned sheath is visible behind the back of the young man. The latter is wearing high geta (footwear).
Fig.3. ´Samurai lord having intercourse with a submissive minor´(c.1850s)
Our old friend, the big brown-skinned male, makes love to his young lover in the missionary position.
Fig.4. ´Gay encounter from the rear´(c.1850s)
A bald-headed Buddhist monk takes a young boy (probably a male prostitute) with a striking hairdo from the rear.
Fig.5. ´Intimate couple on a boat at night´ (c.1850s)
An intimate aristocratic couple is having intercourse on a boat.
Fig.6. ´Two wagtails watching the sunset´(c.1850s)
The scroll ends with a image portraying two wagtails watching the sunset on the beach. In Japanese mythology the two helpful wagtails advised the two deities Izanagi and Izanami in their creation of the Japanese islands.
In the following video you can watch the whole scroll:
