Erotic Ukiyo-e Exhibition in Tokyo’s Nightlife District

The notion “pleasure is our birthright” is celebrated in a daring exhibition of the traditional Japanese art of shunga–– erotic ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Edo Period (1603–1867). The show, titled Shunga Exhibition in Shinjuku Kabukicho––A Moment Interwoven with Culture and “Wa”, is held until September 30 at two special sites: an indoor Noh stage and a former host club, once staffed by male entertainers. On display are 150 rare works by ukiyo-e masters such as Katsushika Hokusai, Kitagawa Utamaro, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi, chosen from the extensive collection of Mitsuru Uragami, an authority on art and antiquities who contributed to groundbreaking presentations of shunga at London’s British Museum in 2013 and Tokyo’s Eisei Bunko Museum in 2015.

Art direction is by Yasutaka Hayashi of Chim↑Pom from Smappa!Group, a creative unit known for socially provocative works. Maki Tezuka, project director for the show and CEO of the Kabukicho-based entertainment company Smappa!Group, oversaw planning. “We want to convey the appeal of Japanese culture, specifically as it can be experienced in Kabukicho,” he says.

Kabukicho: Shinjuku’s Red-light Playground

With large thoroughfares and tiny back streets bustling with bars, clubs, and love hotels, Kabukicho has been a hub of commerce (both legal and illicit) since the days following World War II. The name comes from plans in the 1950s to build a kabuki theater there. Though the playhouse never materialized, the name stuck, largely because “kabuki” alludes to singing, dancing, sex work, and general kinkiness—all activities for which the area has a reputation. “Postwar Kabukicho emerged as a practical-minded, money-driven town with a lot of freedom in terms of jobs, gender roles, and sexual norms,” says Tezuka. “It didn’t really have a ‘native’ culture like Kyoto or Tokyo’s [traditional working class] shitamachi neighborhoods. It was built by people who came from all over. ”

More than Pornography, a Marvel of Japanese Art

The origins of shunga––literally, “spring pictures,” with “spring” being a euphemism for sex––are still debated. Some scholars trace them back to Chinese intercourse manuals introduced to Japan as early as the tenth century; others view them as part of a broader, trans-Asian tradition of erotic literature going back to the Kama Sutra of India.

Wherever its roots, shunga’s golden age was during Japan’s Edo period (1603–1867). They appeared in erotic albums known as “pillow books” that could be stashed inside wooden pillows, and flourished in the form of ukiyo-e prints, depicting the “floating world” of Edo’s Yoshiwara pleasure quarters. Nearly every major ukiyo-e artist produced shunga at some point in their career. Despite governmental restrictions, they were circulated and widely enjoyed across classes and genders. They were even said to serve as a kind of talisman, carried by samurai into battle to ward off death, or kept by merchants as protection against fires.

Creating ukiyo-e was an intricate, highly creative process requiring bold imaginations, remarkable skill, and collaboration. Publishers would commission works; artists (to whom the prints were attributed) produced master drawings; carvers engraved the paper image onto wooden blocks, creating proof prints and color blocks for each hue. Printers would then apply the pigments separately according to the artist’s direction to compile the final work.

Beyond erotic tableaus, shunga—often published as books or series—wove in references to Japanese mythology and literature, or classical Chinese tales, building illustrated narratives not unlike today’s manga. With parody, allusion, and humor, shunga have parallels with aspects of sex-positive popular culture today, such as rap songs. Alongside the lively scenes of carnal bliss, shunga can be enjoyed for interplays of realism and fantasy, sophisticated uses of color, striking compositions, and lavish backgrounds that showcase the settings, fashions, and social circumstances of their eras.

Shunga Reclaims the Public Stage

Japanese erotica was forced underground in the Meiji era (1868–1912), when Christianity-influenced Western ideas of propriety took hold. Only in recent decades have exhibitions in Japan and abroad begun to reintroduce shunga to public view, inviting a fresh examination of its merits. The current exhibition makes a persuasive case for shunga as a joyful fusion of eroticism and art.

The curation is remarkable for emphasizing a feminine perspective. Female staff members played a crucial role in selecting the shunga on display, and most works depict women also enjoying the sex act. The exhibit is refreshingly free of the male gaze that typically typecasts women as passive objects of desire. It also acknowledges the Edo period’s more fluid approach to sexuality and gender expression, with shunga sometimes portraying homoerotic relationships.

Must-see highlights include a rare nikuhitsu hand-painted scroll from the early Edo period and prints from Kitagawa Utamaro’s eighteenth century masterpiece Prelude to Desire (願ひの糸ぐち) at the first venue, as well as paper doll-like cutouts of shunga characters at the second site.

Project director Tezuka’s advice for those new to the unapologetically sensual world of shunga is to keep an open mind and look for beauty in the details, beyond the salacious subject matter. “Think of shunga as a doorway to Japanese culture, and you’ll get more out of it,” he says.

Two Unlikely but Compelling Venues

A Noh stage may seem a surprising place for a shunga exhibition. Rooted in Shinto ritual, the ancient dramatic art of Noh has long regarded its stages as sacred spaces, where performers act not only for human spectators but for the gods. Yet Noh and shunga share certain resonances. Just as the painted pine tree backdrop and bridgeway of the stage symbolize a link between the human and the divine, the historical artworks presented here are described as “a spiritual bridge back to Edo.”

Visitors are afforded the rare opportunity to step onto the Noh stage (after removing their shoes) and admire the works at close range. They are also welcome to seat themselves in a circle, a shape evoking the concept of wa––a central concept for the show that embraces several layers of meaning: wa as a “circle” or gathering place; warai-e (“laughing pictures”), another term for shunga; and wa (和) as a symbol of Japan.

The artistic styles of the shunga on display vary wonderfully by their creators and ages. While Furuyama Moroshige’s Courtesan and Young Man (1685) has the delicate touch and subtle facial expressions of his predecessor Hishikawa Moronobu, said to be ukiyo-e’s founder, other artists such as Utagawa Kunisada favored more vivid colors and dramatic compositions. Kunisada’s The Genji of the East: Floral and Avian Elegance (1837), inspired by the classical epic novel The Tale of Genji, includes a scene in which a gorgeously attired couple in the Heian period (794–1185) giggle at cats fornicating beneath a cherry tree in bloom. Still other artists like Katsukawa Shuncho employed a more muted approach to their visuals, creating benigirai prints that avoided red for more subdued colors. (Their subject matter is generally no less titillating.)

Much of shunga’s charm comes from its blend of realism and absurdity. Genitals tend to be carefully rendered yet outsized, sometimes appearing as anthropomorphic characters in their own right. In Katsushika Hokusai’s erotic book series The Gods of Conjugal Delights (1821), a pair of penises are shown strolling together arm in arm. Koikawa Shozan, who was among the most accomplished shunga artists of the late Edo and early Meiji periods, depicted an energetic group of nine dancing phalluses dressed as festival revelers in a booklet of colored prints from the late Edo period.

All three aspects of wa celebrated by the show can also be experienced in a much different atmosphere at the second venue, a former host club. At such establishments, women pay male attendants for their (non-sexual) companionship and entertainment. With a wrap-around sofa and low lighting, this intimate space entices with shunga treasures like Utagawa Kunitora’s Senrikyo (“Telescope”) from 1824, which challenges viewers to find couples making love in larger scenes of Edo society, Where’s Waldo style. Other notable displays include shunga in unconventional formats, like folding-fan shapes and the aforementioned paper cutouts. Once hidden and scorned, Edo-period shunga may finally be finding a new embrace in the twenty-first century.

Shunga Exhibition in Shinjuku Kabukicho––A Moment Interwoven with Culture and “Wa” (July 26–September 30, 2025)
Weekdays: 11:00–21:00 (Last entry 20:30)
Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays: 10:00–21:00 (Last entry 20:30)
Closed on non-holiday Mondays. Closed on September 16 (Tuesday).

Admission: ¥2,200 (standard ticket)
Ages 18+ only; ID required
TEL: 03-3209-9619

Main Venue: Shinjuku Kabukicho Noh Theater
2F Lions Plaza Shinjuku, 2-9-18 Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo
3-minute walk from Exit E1 of Shinjuku-sanchome Station (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Fukutoshin Line, Toei Shinjuku Line)
8-minute walk from the North Exit of Seibu-Shinjuku Station (Seibu Shinjuku Line)
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Second Venue & Merchandise Shop
Kabuki Social Building 9F, 1-2-15 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
(5-minute walk from the main venue)
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The exhibition is split into two periods: July 26–August 31 and September 2–September 30.
Some of the artworks on display will be changed between Part 1 and Part 2.