Japan: The Thunder God Raijin drops his drumstick while proffering a love letter to a courtesan accompanied by her assistant, the latter both covering their ears against the noise. Suzuki Harunobu (1724-1770)

Suzuki Harunobu (1724 – July 7, 1770) was a Japanese woodblock print artist, one of the most famous in the Ukiyo-e style. He was an innovator, the first to produce full-color prints (nishiki-e) in 1765, rendering obsolete the former modes of two- and three-color prints.

Harunobu used many special techniques, and depicted a wide variety of subjects, from classical poems to contemporary beauties (bijin, bijin-ga). Like many artists of his day, Harunobu also produced a number of shunga, or erotic images.

Raijin is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in the Shinto religion and in Japanese mythology. He is typically depicted as a demonic spirit beating drums to create thunder, usually with a tomoe symbol drawn on the drums.

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