Title: Secret Manual of Yin-Yang Pleasures (Onmyō hiden hannai-sho, 陰陽秘伝犯内書)
Artist / Author: Okumura Masanobu [奥村政信] (Japanese, 1686–1764)
Signed: 大和絵師 奥村親祥政信 (Yamato eshi Okumura Shinshō Masanobu)
Publisher: Yamaguchiya Gonbei [山口屋權兵衛], a.k.a. Sudō Gonbei (Japanese, fl. c. 18th century)
Place of Publication: Kawase Ishichō (川瀬石町), Edo
Date: About 1711–16 (Shōtoku era)
Media: Hand-colored woodblock print; miniature ehon (shunga) printed on paper, bound in traditional fukurotoji format; 43 pages total, including 20 double-page black-ink woodblock illustrations, individually hand-colored; Book dimensions: 107 × 75 mm (4.2 × 3 in)
Titled only by modern convention, Secret Manual of Yin-Yang Pleasures (Onmyō hiden hannai-sho) is a miniature shunga picture book attributed to Okumura Masanobu [奥村政信] (Japanese, 1686–1764), a pioneering figure in early ukiyo-e, celebrated for his bijin-ga and narrative illustrations. In this work, he signs in an unusually elaborate form: 大和絵師 奥村親祥政信 (Yamato eshi Okumura Shinshō Masanobu) — a rare variant of his more familiar studio signature, typically rendered as Yamato eshi Okumura Masanobu zu. The heightened honorific style of this inscription may indicate the work’s intimate or limited-edition character.
The publisher, identified in the colophon as Yamaguchiya Gonbei [山口屋權兵衛], also known as Sudō Gonbei, was active in Kawase Ishichō (川瀬石町), Edo. The book’s printing quality is modest: the woodblock illustrations are primitively carved and hand-colored, with minimal sophistication — an aesthetic suggesting very early production, likely before Masanobu began publishing under his own name in 1719. On stylistic and bibliographic grounds, the book is here dated to about 1711–16 (Shōtoku era, 正徳年間).
The format — 107 × 75 mm, bound fukuro-toji, with 43 pages and 20 hand-colored illustrations — marks it as a miniature ehon intended for clandestine enjoyment. The content is both literary and erotic: a playful preface likens the women inside to Izumo no Okuni, legendary founder of kabuki, while the narrative frames erotic initiation as a form of spiritual training undertaken by Ariwara no Chūjō, a poetic nobleman of classical lore. The text draws heavily on yin-yang symbolism, anatomical metaphor, and erotic Taoist tropes, offering physiological instruction as a poetic parable.
The final sections shift toward a didactic tone, presenting a mnemonic palm calendar, commentary on women’s emotional rhythms, and metaphysical diagrams of the female body. A final waka-like poem ties the volume together in moral reflection, urging sincerity and quiet devotion. The entire work concludes with a brief philosophical epilogue: “To know this path is to follow the will of the immortals.”
This edition, likely printed for discreet circulation among connoisseurs, reflects the intersection of erotic, literary, and philosophical traditions in early 18th-century Edo. It is one of the earliest surviving examples of shunga in fully narrative form — more whispered scroll than commercial print.
