The Secret Lesbian Encounters in Ukiyo-e Shunga
Marijn Kruijff
01/10/2017
8 min
11

The Secret Lesbian Encounters in Ukiyo-e Shunga

01/10/2017
8 min
11

Pictures of lesbians were also popular in shunga (although they are rare!). The depicted women are usually shown using a special dildo (harigata), composed like a double-sided phallus. Although I have seen pictures in which a woman was wearing a mask (see the second print in the video below!) of a male kabuki actor, I have never seen a woman dressed as a male (while this kind of cross-dressing was very common in male homoerotic scenes).

Lesbian couple with tortoise-shell harigata by Kunisada

Fig.1. ‘Lesbian couple with tortoise-shell harigata*‘ (c.1842) from the series ‘Shiki no sugatami (Viewing Forms in the Four Seasons)‘ by Utagawa Kunisada

Lesbianism

Only very rarely are the women shown touching or kissing each other or having oral sex. Most, if not all. of the artists were men so they may have been inclined to present lesbianism less as a sexual tendency and more as a response to a lack of male presence.

lesbian shunga with Lesbian couple using a tagaigata (double-sided dildo)

Fig.2. ‘Lesbian couple using a tagaigata**‘ excerpt from a primitive shunga scroll from the 1650s. Painted by an Unknown Master

Male Fantasies

There’s very little known about lesbian love in the Edo era so there is a big chance that these kind of scenes were merely male fantasies. A very early (c.1650) and rare example of a primitive shunga scroll paintings featuring lesbian activity (see Fig.2.)

Video on Lesbian shunga:

lesbian shunga Female servants making love by Hokusai

Fig.3. ‘Female servants making love‘ (c.1814) from the series ‘Kinoe no komatsu (Languishing for Love/ Young Pine Saplings)‘ by Katsushika Hokusai

Servants

Two female servants who have interrupted their activities for the lord and are now making love using a dildo. A design from Hokusai’s acclaimed Kinoe no komatsu-series that was published in 1814.

Lesbian encounter with the use of tagaigata attributed to Keishu Takeuchi

Fig.4. ‘Lesbian encounter with the use of tagaigata‘ (c.1900) attributed to Keishu Takeuchi (1861-1942)

Wife: "This is spring... you're really cute, that's cute again~"

Oharu (a woman who serves at this wife's house): "Uhun, Uhun, Madam... You're doing well, Ah... I'll go too, Hun Hun Hun."

Dildo sound: "Copon, copon, copon."

lesbian shunga by Gessai Gabimaru

Fig.5. ‘Lesbian encounter‘ (c.1790s) from the series ‘Picture Book: The Laughable Erotic Shellfish (Ehon warai ga)‘ by Gessai Gabimaru

lesbian couple using a dildo by Keisai Eisen

Fig.6. ‘Lesbian encounter ‘ (c.1838) from the series ‘Shunshoku hana no shizuku (Erotic Drops of Flower Petals)‘ by Keisai Eisen (1790-1848)

Covered

A sensual encounter between two young girls using a tagaigata. Striking is that both their faces are partly or completely covered. The insert features a peacock that seems to observe their activities.

Two copulating females using a tagaigata by Utagawa Kuninao

Fig.7. ‘Two copulating females using a tagaigata‘ (c.1827) from the series ‘Imose-yama‘ by Utagawa Kuninao

Favorite Actor

These two love-making females are triggered by the ukiyo-e print depicting their favorite actor that lays beside them. Just like the storage box that normally houses the tagaigata (double-sided dildo) they are using. One of their colleagues is passionately observing them in the other room.

Lesbian couple with strap-on dildo by Kikugawa Eizan

Fig.8. ‘Lesbian couple with strap-on dildo (harigata)‘ (c.1820) by Kikugawa Eizan (1787-1867)

Lesbian sex with a Tengu mask

Fig.9. EgoyomiLesbian couple using a Tengu mask‘ (c.1830) attributed to Keisai Eisen (1790-1848)

Shikake-e (Trick picture) with moveable double-sided dildo - Lesbian fantasy

Fig.10. Shikake-e (Trick picture) with movable double-sided dildo ‘Lesbian fantasy‘ (c.1840) by Utagawa school

Lesbian couple wearing a tortoise-shell harigata

Fig.11. ‘Lesbian couple wearing a tortoise-shell harigata (dildo) have found sensual inspiration after reading a shunga book‘ (c.1850) by a member of the Utagawa school

lesbian orgy Orgy including females making love to each other using various dildos

Fig.12. ‘Orgy including lesbians using various dildos‘ (c.1850) from the series ‘Ko-u so no jin yori haseide daigasen no zu‘ by Utagawa Kunisada II

lesbian orgy Orgy including females making love to each other using various dildos

Fig.13. ‘Orgy including lesbian activity‘ (c.1850) from the series ‘Ko-u so no jin yori haseide daigasen no zu‘ by Utagawa Kunisada II

lesbian shunga with female threesome using dildos

Fig.14. ‘Lesbian threesome with harigata dildos‘ (c.1760) by Tsukioka Settei

Lesbians experimenting with a harigata while looking at a shunga book

Fig.15. Painting featuring ‘Lesbians experimenting with a harigata while looking at a shunga book‘ (c.1900s) by an unknown Meiji artist

Rare scene with two young females and two males making love to each other' (c.1840) by Utagawa school

Fig.16. ‘Rare gay scene with two young females and two males making love to each other‘ (c.1840) by Utagawa school

lesbian shunga: painting with lesbian couple using a double-sided dildo

Fig.17. Painting ‘Lesbian couple using a tagaigata (double-sided dildo)‘ (c.1920) by an unknown Taisho era artist

lesbian art: lesbian couple making love using a double-sided dildo

Fig.18. ‘Lesbian lovers using a tagaigata (double-sided dildo)‘ (c.1840) by Utagawa school

lesbian shunga: Painting of a ‘Lesbian couple with cat‘ (consignment piece 2018) by Senju Shunga

Fig.19. Painting of a ‘Lesbian couple with cat performing oral sex‘ (consignment piece 2018) by Senju Shunga

lesbian shunga

Fig.20. ‘Lesbians and sex toys‘ (c.1839) from the series ‘Ana no ukihashi‘ by Keisai Eisen

Tagaigata

Striking tableaux scene portraying two geisha making love with the aid of  a tagaigata (double-sided phallus). In the background, another female satisfies herself using a harigata (artificial phallus), ingeniously attached to her heel with a rope.

lesbian shunga

Fig.21. ‘Courtesans experimenting with a strap-on dildo (harigata)‘ (c.1920s) by an unknown Japanese artist

Models of Calligraphy

Painting inspired by Chokyosai’s Eiri’s masterpiece ‘Fumi no kiyogaki (Models of Calligraphy)‘ issued in 1801.

shigenobu lesbian

Fig.22. ‘The empress of the Island of Women fingering a female lover near a tree‘ (c.1830) attributed to Yanagawa Shigenobu

utagawa kuniyasu

Fig.23. ‘Rare lesbian scene with two females kissing‘ (c.1830) from the series ‘Koi no minato nyogo no shima da‘ by Utagawa Kuniyasu

lesbian shunga shuncho

Fig.24. ‘Women using a dildo‘ (Late 1780s)  by Katsukawa Shuncho

Unrecorded

This unrecorded print is surely one of the great ukiyo-e lesbian designs. It predates by around a dozen years, the famous image of the same subject by Eiri from the series Fumi no kiyogaki,

lesbians playing with a sex toyFig. 25. 'Lesbian lovers playing with a double-sided dildo' (Meiji era) by an unidentified artist

lesbian erotic art

Fig. 26. 'Lesbians using a tagaigata' (Meiji era) by an unidentified artist

Click HERE for more lesbian designs…!!!

Or HERE for shunga art displaying sensual lesbian encounters for sale…!!

*  a harigata is an artificial penis (dildo)
** a tagaigata is a double-sided dildo

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