10 Masterpieces of Japanese Erotica That May Complicate Your Sex Life

Refresh your shelves with inspiring reads.

Clear your kitchen counters – new books for home cooks and destination diners are here.

Journey across time, continents, and cultures to discover the endless ways artists and image-makers have been inspired by these enchanting insects.

‘A sweeping meditation on femininity, power, vulnerability, and the visual vocabulary we use to define all three.’ – Vogue

In this two-volume collection of portraits, legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz presents a powerful celebration of women in all of their diversities.

Explore customer favorites, newly re-stocked and ready to ship.

Discover books signed by your favorite authors, available in limited quantities from Phaidon.com.

Inspire the next generation of creative thinkers with our bestselling, groundbreaking, and critically acclaimed children’s books.

Mix, bake, and decorate with the latest addition to Lotta Nieminen’s bestselling series.

Download our free printable pack of games, art prompts, and other activities inspired by our beloved children's books.

Discover limited editions by the world's most exciting contemporary artists, including Dana Schutz, Rashid Johnson, Harland Miller, and more.

Discover books signed by your favorite authors, available in limited quantities from Phaidon.com.

'A rollicking and sumptuous autobiography.’ – Vogue

For the ultimate fan: collectors’ editions of Rihanna, the iconic pop star's 500-page tome.

Phaidon is the premier global publisher of the creative arts with over 1,500 titles in print. We work with the world’s most influential artists, chefs, writers, and thinkers to produce innovative books on art, photography, design, architecture, fashion, food, and travel, and illustrated books for children.

As a leading publisher of illustrated books for more than 25 years, Monacelli has challenged the conventions of publishing to produce provocative, inspiring, and essential titles on architecture, art, interior design, landscape and gardens, photography, and the applied arts.

Artspace produces and publishes exclusive limited editions with today’s most exciting contemporary artists, in partnership with renowned cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations around the world.

Phaidon Kids works with the world’s most influential writers, illustrators, designers, and artists to publish bestselling, groundbreaking, and critically acclaimed children’s books on a range of topics – from astronomy and the natural world to cooking and the creative arts.

In the Western tradition, the idealized nude and—more explicitly—sex have long been sticking points in artistic discourse across generations—controversial for their beauty on the one hand, and its supposedly sinful nature on the other. In stark contrast, Japanese erotica in paintings and prints have held a ubiquitous position in society, starting with the Heian aristocracy of the ninth century and trickling down to a rising, modern urban middle class. While styles have changed over the centuries, these works are connected by a shared celebration of life's fleeting, earthly pleasures under the term ukiyo-e, or the Floating World.

With Phaidon's compendium Poem of the Pillow and Other Stories guiding our journey, we take a spin around traditional pleasure quarters with these ten arousing artworks of Japanese erotic art.

GENJI’S ELEGANT PILLOW (GENJI KYASHA MAKURA)
Hishikawa Moronobu
1676

GENJIS ELEGANT PILLOW (GENJI KYASHA MAKURA)Hishikawa Moronobu 1676