Kunisada and Kuniyoshi: Shinjuku Kabukicho Shunga Exhibition WA
歌川国貞・歌川国芳ー新宿歌舞伎町春画展WA
Shunga and ukiyo-e by Utagawa Kunisada and Utagawa Kuniyoshi at the Shinjuku Kabukicho Noh Stage, the fourth Kabukicho shunga show. Ages 18 and over.
Last entry 20:30. Open until 22:00 on 2026/11/06 (Friday Night, last entry 21:30). Closed 2026/11/02 for the change between the two parts.
〒 160-0021How to get there
東新宿Fukutoshin Line · Toei Oedo Line6 min walk from the station
Kunisada and Kuniyoshi is an exhibition of shunga (春画), the erotic prints and books of the Edo period, by Utagawa Kunisada and Utagawa Kuniyoshi, two ukiyo-e artists of the last years of the Edo period. It is held at the Shinjuku Kabukicho Noh Stage, a noh stage built in 1941, with part of the show in BOND, a host club nearby. Next to the shunga hang prints from the genres each artist was best known for. Visitors must be 18 or over.
The exhibition series
This is the fourth Shinjuku Kabukicho Shunga Exhibition WA, a series run by Smappa!Group and Wine Rice. The WA in the name stands for three words read the same way: harmony (和), circle (輪) and laughter (笑).
The series is supervised by Mitsuru Uragami, head of Uragami Sokyudo and a standing director of the International Ukiyo-e Society. He worked on the British Museum exhibition Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art in 2013 and 2014, and on the Eisei Bunko shunga exhibition of 2015.
Highlights
From Kunisada, the show includes the triptych Sangenji (三源氏), a Hyakki Yagyo (百鬼夜行), the night parade of a hundred demons, full of yokai, and Sento Shinwa (泉湯新話), set in a public bathhouse. Kuniyoshi is represented by many of his prints of cats. The exhibition runs in two parts, with a change of works between them.
Two illustrated books, Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji (偐紫田舎源氏) and Shinpen Kinpeibai (新編金瓶梅), can be handled at a reading corner. The audio guide is voiced by the tanka poet Machi Tawara, who covers The Tale of Genji, and the actor Yudai Chiba, who covers shunga in general.
Events
A program of events runs alongside the exhibition: rakugo comic storytelling, katsuben (活弁), live narration of silent films, lectures by researchers and writers, workshops on reading kuzushiji, the cursive script of old books, gallery tours, and walks and a night cruise around Shinjuku.
One evening, Friday Night, is free for adults who live, work or study in Shinjuku City. It is paid for by WA Partners, companies and individuals who put money into the series.
Getting There
Planning a trip? Fit this into a trip and Oni plans the rest around it.
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