Okumura Masanobu, Sheet from the set Twelve ōban sumizuri-e, ca. 1710

Seigle_Masanobu_Lovers copy

Artist: Okumura Masanobu (1686 – 1764)
Title: Untitled
Series Title: Twelve ōban sumizuri-e
Date: ca. 1710
Medium: Single-color woodblock print; ink on paper.
Publisher: Unknown
Engraver: Unknown
Inscription: 松茸狩りに踏迷ふらん　大胆な女の登る高野山
“Lost in the matsutake mushroom hunt, an audacious woman climbs Mount Koya”
Gift of Dr. Cecilia Segawa Seigle

A woman wraps her arms around a young man reading a book. While at first they appear to be reading together, she seems to be more interested in the man than in what he is reading. The poem inscribed elegantly on the top half of the print describes what is really going on: “Lost in the matsutake mushroom hunt, an audacious woman climbs Mount Koya.” Here the reference to the matsutake mushroom refers to its well-known phallic shape, indicating what it is that the young woman is seeking. Mount Koya, a well-known pilgrimage site, was forbidden to women at the time, and the fact that she is metaphorically climbing the mountain emphasizes her audaciousness. Text and image describe the scene: she is boldly trying to seduce the young man.

Although it is unsigned, this print may be attributed by style to Okumura Masanobu and is likely one of his earliest erotic pictures; this impression seems to have been part of a larger set and it may also be the only remaining copy of this design. Masanobu was one of the most successful artists of his era and rare in ukiyo-e for having established himself as a publisher. He claimed to have invented perspective prints (uki-e) and pillar prints (hashira-e). The sophisticated poem and calligraphy also presents Masanobu as a cultured artist.

Selected Readings

  • Buckland, Rosina. Shunga: Erotic Art in Japan. New York: Overlook Press, 2013.
  • Hayashi, Yoshikazu, and Richard Lane. Teihon Ukiyo-e Shunga Meihin Shūsei. (11. Neya no Hinagata / Okumura Masanobu.) Tōkyō: Kawade Shobō Shinsha, 1995-1996.
  • Shirakura, Yoshihiko. Ukiyo-e Shunga wo Yomu. Tōkyō: Chūō kōron shinsha, 2000.
  • Thompson, Sarah E. “The Original Source (Accept No Substitutes!): Okumura Masanobu,” in Julia Meech and Jane Oliver, eds., Designed for Pleasure: The World of Edo Japan in Prints and Paintings, 1680-1860. New York : Asia Society and Japanese Art Society of America ; Seattle : In association with University of Washington Press, 2008.
  • Vergez, Robert. Early Ukiyo-e Master – Okumura Masanobu. Tōkyō: Kōdansha International, 1983.

Posted by Naoko Adachi
May 1, 2016