Tug of War With a Rope in an Allegorical Love Struggle
The protagonists in the shunga designs below are all engaged in an erotic variation on the neck Tug-of-war (Kubi-hiki). Instead of the traditional neck pulling with the rope attached behind the neck of each of the opponents here the “confident” male has replaced the neck by his member. These images represent the two lovers playing with a rope in an allegorical love struggle.
‘Penis pulling with rope’ (c.1788) by Katsukawa Shuncho (act. ca. 1783-1795)
‘Phallus celebration’ (c.18 ) by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865)
‘Tug of war‘ (c.1855) from the series ‘Shunkyo karami-dako (Spring Games: Grappling Octopus)‘ attributed to Kunisada II (1823-1880)
‘Asahina Yoshihide in a tug-of-war with the little people’ (c.1839) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
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