HOMOSEXUAL EROTICA, KAMAKURA ERA.

From manuscript label on outside of front endpaper: “Chigo no sōshi” 稚児草紙 or “Chigo sōshi” [“Book of Acolytes”].

Illustrated scroll (323 x 15,230 mm.) with illicit & very explicit depictions of male-male sexual relationships between priests and young men. 18 vividly hand-painted scenes, executed with a variety of fine ink & color washes, patterned silk endpaper, decorative gold paper label with title written in manuscript. [Japan: mid- to late Edo].

An exciting discovery: a handscroll derived from one of the first medieval Japanese narratives of homosexual male intimacy; according to an inscription at the end of our scroll, the source scroll — now held at Sanbō-in, part of Kyoto’s Daigo-ji — was created ca. 1321. Although sexual relationships between adult Buddhist monks and their acolytes were prevalent in this period, depictions of them were illicit and strictly censored by the state. Given their controversial nature, these materials have become most scarce. Our scroll is an Edo-period copy of the earliest extant version, and closely matches the example at the British Museum (Registration no.: 2013,3001.1).

In the context of Buddhist temples where priests were forbidden from intercourse with women, sexual relations between older priests and their disciples were fairly common. The younger party, known as chigo 稚児, was expected to accommodate their partner by various means. The scenes in this scroll, for example, depict a servant preparing an acolyte for anal sex with a dildo to relax his anus; the application of clove oil as a lubricant; and warming his bottom over a brazier. The chigo are depicted with physical features often associated with women of this period, such as long hair, paler skin, and a more rounded physique; nonetheless, the young men in our scroll still have mature male genitalia and pubic hair. The five acolytes in this story reside at Buddhist temples in Kyoto, including Ninna-ji 仁和寺 and Hosshō-ji 法勝寺. Two of the texts concern priest-acolyte pairs at temples in the Saga and Kitayama parts of Kyoto.

In 2013, the British Museum included their copy of this scroll in their groundbreaking Shunga exhibition. Scholar Akiko Yano writes about it: “Very few sexually explicit paintings created before the end of the sixteenth century have survived. The titles and contents of medieval painted handscrolls with sexual themes are known today owing to numerous copies made predominantly in the Edo period…Chigo no sōshi depicts explicitly and in broad daylight the sexual relationships between acolytes and older priests…The text in five chapters relates the tales of five acolytes. One cares for the old priest’s weakened penis and prepares his own anus with help from his male servant so that it is easy for his master to penetrate him. Each of the other acolytes discreetly accepts the ardent passions of an older priest other than his own master, and permits that lovesick priest to have intercourse with him (or, to borrow an expression from the text, ‘offers his bottom with his robe tucked up’). A consistent theme of the text is to praise the acolytes for their care in serving the older priests who favour them.”–“Shunga Paintings before the ‘Floating World” in Shunga. Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art (British Museum: 2013), pp. 64 & 66.

While the imagery and calligraphy in our scroll are quite similar to the British Museum’s, we note several small differences between our copies. The text included in both of these versions is virtually identical except for a portion where the BM’s copy replicates the paper repairs of the source scroll, while ours does not. They attribute this to “careful antiquarianism…more characteristic of the 19th century.” The BM copy also faithfully recreates tears and wormholes apparently present in the source scroll. Both feature an inscription at the end attributing the “original” version to monk Toba Sōjō 鳥羽僧正 (1053-1140), also known as Kakuyū 覚猷.

As noted in the Shunga exhibition catalogue, the earliest version of Chigo no sōshi, kept at Sanbō-in, is “inaccessible,” and has not been viewed recently by scholars. The author Yukio Mishima (1925-70), nevertheless, visited the temple and claims to have seen it. In his Kinjiki [Forbidden Colors] (1951), the protagonists are granted a private visit of the temple and viewing of the handscroll.

An exceptionally rare illustrated scroll depicting same-sex relationships in early Japan, this is one of very few surviving copies made from the Sanbō-in version. Our scroll is in fine condition. Additional images are available on request.

❧ T. Clark, C. A. Gerstle, A. Ishigami & A. Yano, eds., Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art (British Museum: 2013), pp. 64, 66, 78-79 & 99 (pictured pp. 78-79).

For an excellent summary of this narrative scroll, see Gary P. Leupp, Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan (Berkeley: 1995), pp. 40-41 & 44-46.