Samの英語チャンネル

Hokusai and other ukiyo-e masters of the Edo period are here to help your crotch look its best.

Earlier this year, Tokyo-based underwear maker Hipshop released a collection of Pokémon underpants for grown-ups. The company’s newest line celebrates an equally Japanese artistic style, but one that’s much more adult, with the Shunga Series.

Shunga literally means “spring pictures,” but in Japan spring is considered to be the season of not only new life and vitality, but sex as well. Shunga, therefore, are erotic ukiyo-e woodblock prints, showing lovers getting it on in Edo-period aesthetics. Graphically provocative, shunga were purchased for use both as old-school pornography and as early how-to manuals for an era without formalized sex education classes, and they’ve since taken on historical significance as a snapshot of some of old Japan’s attitudes about sex…and now you can wear those snapshots on your crotch.

Three designs are on offer, each featuring the work of a shunga master, including one from Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), the most famous ukiyo-e painter of all. First, though, here’s Making Love in Winter by Katsukawa Shuncho (1783-1821).

▼ Note that the actual underwear is uncensored, with the subjects’ pleasurable bits on full display.

Next is Kitagawa Utamaro’s (1753-1806) Lovers.

And finally, Lovers Seated with a Plant in the Background, by Hokusai (1760-1849).

▼ No, we didn’t forget the censor mark for this one. That’s the dude’s forearm, wrist, and hand at the bottom right, with a bit of crimson kimono lining showing at the edge..

Hipshop boasts that the comfort-oriented polyester material stretches and wicks away moisture, both of which seem appropriate given the situations depicted, although we should emphasize that the moisture-wicking is for sweat and not…stickier substances.

While some might be tempted to scoff at the idea of using classic works of art in this way, it’s worth bearing in mind that shunga were also called waraie, or “laughing pictures,” showing that Japan has always found a certain naughty humor in them.

Individual pairs are priced at 2,200 yen (US$21), with the complete set of three bundled together at a discounted price of 6,000 yen. Orders can be placed through the Hipshop online store, though you must be 18 or older to purchase the Shunga Series underwear. Oh, and if you’re sad that the picture of the woman and the octopus isn’t available, you can at least get that pattern on a pair of sneakers.

Source: Hipshop via Japaaan, PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Hipshop (edited by SoraNews24)
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Source: SORA NEWS24