“This abuna-e shows a woman smoking her pipe as she sits atop of her lover and reaches inside his kimono.” woodblock print, 19th Century
“Abuna-e capture glimpses of nude or partially nude females involved in foreplay, bathing, washing their hair, enjoying the cool of the evening, or putting on makeup. Often a sudden gust of wind, small child, or even an animal such as a monkey or cat has playfully pulled the woman’s robes apart revealing her legs, thighs, or breasts. It is thought that abuna-e were created in 1772, after the government banned more explicit erotica, and the peak of their popularity, around the middle of the 18th century, supports this assumption. Because their message is implicit, some people consider abuna-e more truly erotic than the explicitly sexual shunga.”