Erotic Dream and Governmental Nightmare: Use and Censorship of Pillow Books in Edo Culture and the Influence of the "Floating World"

Authors

Emily Chase

Keywords

Japan, Edo

Abstract

The “floating world” of Yoshiwara 吉原, the pleasure district of Edo, capital city of Japan during the Edo period (1600–1868), was a fantasy itself, one that fired the imaginations of the many artists who took it as their subject. Like the licensed red-light district of the capital, which contained both theater and many brothels, the art of the “floating world” was often erotic in nature. This eroticism ranged from the subtly arousing to the pornographic. It is the latter, known as shunga 春画(translated literally as “spring pictures”, but commonly called pillow books in the west) which is especially intriguing. These pictures, which were both tightly restricted by the government and prolifically produced, which were used by the wealthy and the middle class alike, and which are tied closely to the erotic fantasy of the “floating world” can perhaps provide a lens for how sexuality was viewed in the “city of bachelors,” Edo.

Recommended Citation

Chase, Emily (2012) "Erotic Dream and Governmental Nightmare: Use and Censorship of Pillow Books in Edo Culture and the Influence of the "Floating World"," The Ozark Historical Review: Vol. 41, Article 6.

Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/ohr/vol41/iss1/6