Book Reviews / East Asian Publishing and Society 1 (2011) 93-104

100 Book Reviews / East Asian Publishing and Society 1 (2011) 93-104

Tsukioka Settei 月岡雪鼎 1 Onna shimegawa oeshi-bumi 女令川おへし文. Andrew C. Gerstle, ed. Kinsei enpon shiryō shūsei 近世艶本資料集成 (Collected Erotic Texts of the Edo Modern Period), vol. IV; Nichibunken Japanese Studies series, no. 40. Kyoto, Nichi- bunken, 2007. ISBN 9784901558341

Tsukioka Settei 月岡雪鼎 2 Bidō nichiya johōki 艶道日夜女宝記. Andrew C. Gerstle, ed. Kinsei enpon shiryō shūsei 近世艶本資料集成 (Collected Erotic Texts of the Edo Modern Period), vol. V; Nichibunken Japanese Studies series, no. 44. Kyoto, Nichibunken, 2010. ISBN 9784901558495

Recent Source Material for the Study of Eroticism in Edo-period Japan

Scholarly attention to the study of shunga 春画 (lit. spring pictures, a term referring to Japanese erotic printed or painted imagery) seems to have intensified following the 1995 symposium entitled ‘Sexuality and Edo Culture’ and the subsequent publication of its proceedings by Sumie Jones (see Sumie Jones (ed.), Imaging/reading eros: proceedings for the conference, ‘Sexuality and Edo culture’, 1750-1850 [Bloomington, East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University Bloomington, 1996], p. 1). Subsequently, Timon Screech caused huge waves on the issue, stimulating discussion and receiving both criticism and praise in a vari- ety of reviews (Timon Screech, Sex and the floating world: erotic images in Japan 1700-1820 [Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press, 1999]). In Japan, mostly as a result of the declining enforcement of censorship laws from 1990 onwards, a steady stream of often cover-to-cover facsimiles have started to appear, creating an enormous reservoir of pictorial reference material for Japanese and Western scholars alike (see, for example, Lane et al. (eds), Teihon ukiyo-e shunga meihin shūsei 定本・浮世絵春画名品集成 (The completeukiyo-e shunga) [Tokyo, Kawade Shobō Shinsha, 1995- 98/2003]). Hayakawa Monta added a thorough analysis to this pictorial wealth and, thus, we can safely say that shunga studies not only developed, but have indeed come a long way from the days when a silver ink was used to hide any genitals from our view (Hay- akawa Monta, The shunga of Suzuki Harunobu: Mitate-e and sexuality in Edo. [Kyoto, Nichibunken, 2001]. In 2007 and 2010, Andrew Gerstle made major contributions to the study of shunga 春画. In two consecutive publications within the series Kinsei enpon shiryō shūsei 近世艶本資料集成, Gerstle adds two very important sources to the repertoire. In the first publication, Gerstle examines Onna shimegawa oeshi-bumi 女令川おへし文 (Love letters and a river of erect precepts for women) which was published in 1768 or shortly thereafter, and was illustrated by the Osaka artist Tsukioka Settei (1726-86). It is a parody of Onna Imagawa oeshie-bumi 女今川おへし文 (The Imagawa admonitions for women and letters for teach- ing), which appeared just shortly before the appearance of its parody. Settei was known for his parodies of illustrated textbooks for women and his most famous one was Onna dairaku takara-beki 女大楽宝開 (Great pleasures for women and their treasure boxes) published ca. 1752, which was his playfully eroticized version of Onna daigaku takara-bako 女大学宝箱 (The treasure chest of great learning for women), one of the most influential and most fre- quently reprinted manuals for women’s behavior.

Gerstle provides a full transcription and translation of Onna shimegawa and at the bot- tom of each page briefly explains the parody. The originalImagawa admonitions are repro- duced in facsimile (but not translated). In a short introduction he discusses the genre, the artist, the development of shunga in Osaka, and the nature of censorship. He then enters— however briefly—the debate on the function ofshunga books. He argues, contrary to Screech, that these books are instructional manuals for sex. I would add that mono-functional explanations do not really do justice to the great diversity within the Japanese erotic genre. It is most likely that Settei’s parodies were multi-functional (providing humor, liter- ary erudition, sexual instruction, and erotic stimulation) in themselves, catering to different types of readers looking for different things. And they probably had a totally different read- ership than the gorgeous, printed, deluxe editions illustrated by artists such as Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (1786-1865) (see, for example, the four-volume Shunka shutō shiki no nagame 惷夏秋冬・四季乃 (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter: Prospects for the Four Seasons), ca. 1820s) or Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (1797-1861) (Tsukushi matsufuji no shiragami 筑紫松藤柵 (The Matsufuji Weir in Kyūshū), ca. 1830), which provided all the above-mentioned functions in addition to catering to the booklover who may have appreciated the tremendous printing quality. The second book by Settei that Gerstle translates and annotates isBidō nichiya johōki 艶道日夜女宝記 (A treasure book for women in the way of love—day and night) which parodies a medical manual Idō nichiyō chōhōki 医道日用重宝記 (A treasure book of medicine—for daily use). The book dates from the mid-1760s. The introduction concentrates on the book itself and the relationship with the parodied medical manual. The high-quality translations bring us to a greater understanding of the nature of these books, and it seems impossible to deny that these sexualized versions play the role of sexual manuals for women in a light and amusing way. As in the first book, Gerstle time and again shows us the elegance of the parody, indicating that it is not a quick, cheap imitation with a dirty twist, but a carefully crafted work with great attention to detail. And from the translations, one truly understands that shunga were not only about sex but also about a good laugh. Gerstle’s accomplishments are highly significant. Both publications open up incredibly rich resources for the study of the genre of shunga and the anthropological study of sexuality in eighteenth-century Japan, for a Japanese and a non-Japanese audience alike. If one were to raise any criticism, one may want to argue that the books would have an even larger impact if more space had been allocated in the introduction to the publishing histories of both shunga books and the manuals they parodied. It would have been interesting to know about the editions in greater detail, which are only briefly mentioned on p. 171.Bidō nichiya johōki 艶道日夜女宝記 seems to have been a rather poor impression, and one wonders about its print run. The spread of these Osaka publications throughout Japan is another question that deserves attention. Settei’s draftsmanship is immediately recogniz- able as Kamigata 上方 style and Santō Kyōden 山東京伝 acknowledges Settei’s qualities in Ukiyo-e ruiko 浮世絵類考, (Thoughts on Ukiyo-e) but would the parody have been equally appreciated in Edo? In both books the question of the authorship of the texts and the respective roles of the illustrator and the publisher is compelling and begs further analysis. Some information on the presence of Settei’s shunga books in other collections throughout Japan and abroad would also have been illuminating.