Timon Screech (SOAS, University of London) outlines what shunga is and the relationship it has had with the wider world. Shunga was collected overseas from the beginning and some shunga also depicts foreign themes. 2 October marks the 400th anniversary of the first Japanese diplomatic document issued to the British, which was delivered to King James I’s representative and East India Company employee, John Saris. Saris himself brought the first Shunga to England, though it outraged the East India Company and was burned.
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