In the Shunga prints that were produced during the 17th and 18th Century the emphasis of the images was on the expression of excitement, lust and love showing sex on a voluntary basis by both partners. However, at the end of the 18th Century erotic images slowly changed sometimes depicting involuntary sex, in most cases showing ugly hairy men forcing themselves on innocent young girls. The following ten rape designs are striking examples of this specific theme:

Koryusai – Falconer

This chuban design by the great pioneer Isoda Koryusai (act. 1770-1780s) from his celebrated ‘Prosperous Flowers of the Elegant Twelve Seasons’ published in 1772-1773 was one of first Japanese woodblock prints depicting rape. The image is associated with the eighth month and shows a falconer forcing down a young girl to the ground in the middle of grass and Japanese clover. Koryusai used a somber and lurid tonality in his use of colors which, together with the wild clawing clover perfectly symbolizes the girl’s entrapment.

Hokusai – Retard

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) offers a rape scene in the large oban format of near-comedy in his masterful series ‘Fukujuso’ (aka. ‘Lovemaking at New Year’s’ and ‘ The Adonis Plant’) published ca. 1822-1823. Depicted is a clownish and obviously retarded bath-house attendant assaulting a maiden who he has long lusted for. He’s holding a coin in his ear, as was the custom of footmen who didn’t possess a purse. A similar scene can be found in Hokusai’s ‘Kino-e no komatsu’ (Pining for Love) which is somehow less comic.

Kunisada – Binded Woman

This horrifying scene from Utagawa Kunisada’s (1786-1865) ‘Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, Prospects for the Four Seasons’-series (late 1820s) with the female victim being crucified and pinioned to a wooden stick with her arms tied behind her back. What enhances the drama is besides the location, somewhere deep in a forest, the fact that her tormentor has deliberately planned his violent crime leaving no ways to escape.

Kunisada – Fox Fires

In another rape design by Kunisada portrays three untractable palanquin bearers holding Ocho, a daughter of the owner of the Karakotoya brothel, to the ground. The restful setting is the surroundings of the Kurosuke Inari Shrine. The ‘fox-lights’ (fox-fires) indicate the presence of the fox spirits. This book illustration is from Kunisada’s ‘Shunshoku hatusne no ume’ (The Erotic Adventures of Six Women) from 1842.

Shigenobu – Gang Rape

Yanagawa Shigenobu’s (1789-1833) oban design from ‘Yanagi no arashi’ (Wind in the Willows) involves four palanquin bearers struggling to hold down a frantic woman. One of the men (second from the left) sports some detailed tattoos on both arms (in this picture almost invisible). The woman is kicking and resisting strongly, but one has the sense that she might be the one in control here.

Kuniyoshi – Candle

In this famous rape scene by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) from the book ‘Byokei ri goyoshi ga’ (c.1830), three men in a darkened room have overpowered a woman. The leading man, who is wearing spectacles, is penetrating his victim while holding a candle. It is whispered among shunga devotees that this man is actually Kuniyoshi himself.

Hokusai – Palanquin Bearers

From the shungabook series ‘Manpuku Wagojin’ (Gods of Intercourse) which Hokusai designed in 1821 this rape scene depicts two palanquin bearers (again!) ready to rape a courtisan (prostitute). The man holding her from behind has a violent grip around her neck while at the same time licking her cheek.

Utamaro – Attempted Rape

In 1788 one of Utamaro’s (1754-1806) most impressive early masterpieces ‘Utamakura’ (Poem of the Pillow) appeared in a series consisting of 12 horizontal album prints. The concerning misogynistic design of this set is one of the most dramatic scenes with a plebeian maiden being assaulted by a middle-aged workman while fighting with all her might. The two protagonists are set to a dark-grey background which heightens the dramatic effect.

Eiri – Lackey

Chokyosai Eiri’s (act. 1789-1801) ‘Fumi no kiyogaki’ (Models of Calligraphy), dated 1801, is considered to be one of the boldest sets of oban-size shunga known. It contains thirteen instead of the usual twelve designs and is almost completely inspired by Utamaro’s ‘Utamakura’. Also this print (see Utamaro – Attempted Rape), which is, compared to Utamaro’s classic, a more comic interpretation of a middle-aged lackey attempting to forcibly seduce a servant girl of the same residence.

Hokusai – Post-rape Scene

The ‘Gods of Intercourse’ -series is concentrated on the tales of the two courtisans Osane and Otsubi who are from various social backgrounds. In this case, Osane, the daughter of a rich merchant, is depicted after a group rape. She’s alone, laying against a tree and it seems like she’s strangely satisfied by this brutal experience which is emphasized by the number of handkerchiefs around her. The tousled hair indicates her depraved nature and is a sign that she will come to a sorry end. It remains one of the most intriguing rape scenes in the history of Ukiyo-e shunga.

The above list doesn’t include Hokusai’s famous ‘Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife’ -design and Utamaro’s Kappa rape design from his Poem of the Pillow -series (both are described in my other article “10 Evocative Erotic Shunga Woodblock Prints”!) because these scenes depict fantasies of the female protagonists involved and are not on an involuntary basis.

Magic rope tricks are not hard to do. They just need a lot of practice, and to help us there are countless books on rope magic. You will not know which one to choose from.

Now, one trick that does not need you to tie a knot is the Indian Rope trick; this is when a magician makes long piece of rope magically lift into the air stretching from the ground up.

He then makes one of his assistants climb the rope; the boy climbs so high that he disappears. The magician, now furious, makes his second assistant climb the rope and he, too, does disappear at the top.

This trick was preformed on the street without a stage and no means of being able to lift the rope into the air. Some say that it is a legend, others believe it is true. Some have even gone so far as to writing a book on the topic and explaining the trick as a stage trick.

The trick was preformed among two trees and there was a hidden wire between the two trees. The rope was thrown up and it would get hooked on the wire, and the boy would then climb the rope but nothing was said about the boy disappearing. Now this was in the late 1800s, I suppose then when someone came up with an explanation of something many must have believed the book’s explanation.

The story spread and there was talk that the trick was real. People had seen it had been done, but in the 1900s with the introduction of science and investigation the book got condemned as a hoax. Even though the rope trick is a mystery, many claimed to have seen it being preformed; there were sightings all over India and Europe.

To me this myth is what made magicians use rope in their shows and boy have we come far since then. We are able to do some fantastic things with ropes like cutting and restoring a rope, cutting rope with our bare fingers making ends link and melt into each other, escapes, rope to silk trick and many more.