Explore Japan’s Erotic Art | Events

Connecting Edo Spirit to the World from KabukichoShinjuku

The Art of Pleasure: Explore Japan’s Erotic Art at the Kabukicho Shunga Exhibition

Jul 26, 2025 at 10:00am ~ Sep 30, 2025 at 9:00pm

Before censorship, before shame, there was Shunga—Japan’s erotic art form that blended humor, desire and exquisite craftsmanship.

Step into a world where sex was celebrated with ink and intention. The Shinjuku Kabukicho Shunga Exhibition showcases 100 rare prints from the Edo period, displayed inside a real Noh theater—bringing together bawdy brilliance and Japan’s cultural traditions.

Shunga (春画) was the everyday erotic art of the floating world—traded by merchants, admired by samurai and laughed over by commoners. These prints show everything from clumsy lovers to fantastical entanglements, with expressive linework, clever visual puns and unmistakable charm. It’s sex with style—and a wink.

Curated with both playfulness and purpose, the exhibition invites you to see sexuality not as taboo, but as part of daily life—full of awkward angles, exaggerated joy and real human connection. And because it’s set inside a traditional Noh stage in Kabukicho, it blurs the line between high art and low pleasures in the best possible way.

With multilingual guides (English, Japanese, Chinese), talks from leading art historians and live performances scheduled throughout the run, this is not just an exhibition—it’s an invitation to laugh, reflect and maybe see intimacy a little differently.

Don’t expect a quiet museum visit. Expect to laugh. To learn. To feel something ancient and surprisingly fresh.