Kyosai Shunga

Erotic art known as shunga, which emerged during the Edo period as part the ukiyo-e movement in Japan, was produced by almost all ukiyo-e artists at some point in their careers. Kawanabe Kysai, who was active in the second half of the 19th century, mastered a vast range of subject matter and styles, and also produced an extensive corpus of explicit shunga. The depiction of sex, the most basic of human activities, was naturally an opportunity for him to give free rein to his extraordinary wit and imaginative humour. This book offers an in-depth look at these artworks, their cultural context, and history, revealing Kysais prolific production as part of the culmination of the genre.