Miyagawa Isshô

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Miyagawa Issho painting. Intitled.

Spring Pastimes. Panels from a series of ten nanshoku-type trysts between men and youths. Male kabuki actors who play female roles are known as onnagata; in the Edo period they often worked as prostitutes offstage. Kagema were male prostitutes who worked in all-male brothels. Both were much sought after by the sophisticates of the day. Miyagawa Isshō, ca. 1750; Shunga hand scroll (kakemono-e); sumi, color and gofun on silk. Private collection.

From the Spring Pastimes series.

From the Spring Pastimes series.

From the Spring Pastimes series.

From the Spring Pastimes series.

From the Spring Pastimes series.

Miyagawa Isshō (Jp:宮川一笑) was a Japanese painter of kakemono-e (picture scrolls) in the ukiyo-e style of popular, colourful art based on everyday life. He was a pupil of Miyagawa Choshun (1682-1752), who in turn was influenced by the works of Hishikawa Moronobu. A number of his works were of a homoerotic nature, documenting the pederastic practices common in Japanese society in his time. Isshō flourished in the mid-18 century.

See also

• Ukiyo-e
• Shunga
• Homosexuality in Japan
• Shudo
• Samurai
• Kagema
• Kabuki

External link

• [Androphile Project - Homoerotic shunga collection]

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