Chigo no sōshi 稚児之草紙 (Book of Acolytes) (BM 2013,3001.1 44)

Shunga; handscroll, ink and colour on paper. Nineteenth-century copy of the oldest and most famous Japanese depiction of male-male sexual relations (nanshoku), dated 1321 and preserved at Sanbo-in, Daigo-ji temple, Kyoto. Eighteen scenes of Buddhist acolytes with temple servants or priests; five short ribald narratives; numerous inscribed comments and conversations surrounding the scenes.