The basis of this exhibition is the aspiration to show the culture of intimate relations of the East Asia peoples as an integral part of folk culture, based on a traditional world outlook. The introductory part of the exhibit is dedicated to agricultural cults related to phallus worship. The reverence for the sacred phallus reflects the idea of regeneration in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, of eternity, and of the beginning of life and its fruitful maturation. The exhibited Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, and Mongolian objects from those traditional cultures represent manifestations of phallus worship in many clear symbolic expressions. The exhibition offers Japanese Shintoist images of male and female sexual organs and masks of the characters from the classical Japanese Noh Theater, which originated from the images of agricultural mythological characters. The worship of the Dragon, the Master of Water and Land and primogenitor of all people, and, first and foremost, of the Rulers of the Heavenly Empire, is also connected to ancient phallus cults. The fertility of the land, the harvest, and the breeding of domestic cattle depended on the reproductive power of the Dragon as well as on the generative power of the Emperor. ragons also personified military power. The magic sword which the first Emperor received from a Dragon was considered the symbol of military power. In Japanese mythology, the sacred sword was carved from the tail of an enormous Dragon who devoured virgins; it was then passed down to the first Emperor of the Country of the Rising Sun. We can follow the string of archetypes: Dragon - Phallus - Sword. In a certain sense, a sword symbolized the Dragon's phallus. No wonder that an image of a dragon, the patron of the martial arts, was often carved on blades, sheaths, or structured parts of Chinese and Japanese swords. Dragon images can often be seen on armor, helmets, banners, and coats of arms. The part of the exhibition dedicated to Dragon worship shows various types of 17th - 20th century Japanese and Chinese swords, a samurai's ceremonial helmet, and an 18th century Chinese armored robe as well as Dragon figurines, one of which was a gift from Nicholas II. In the world-view of the East Asia peoples, human health and happiness, longevity, sexual intercourse, numerous off-spring, the continuation of one's family, and happiness within it as well as within society in general formed a unified whole; no part was isolated from another. In traditional China, the art of love was poetically called the art of the inner (sleeping or jade) chambers. The Chinese paid much attention to the furnishing and to the interior decoration of bedrooms. It was achieved with great care: there was a little table with a wine set, musical instruments, a specially shaped head-rest, a mat underneath with a cover on top, a bed-curtain on poles, colorful clothes, jewelry, and scrolls with erotic images... The inner chambers were supposed to create the appropriate mood. In this part of the exhibition, the public will see for the first time Chinese erotic pictures (on paper, on silk, and with ivory figurines), which probably date back to the early 18th century. One can also see ancient Chinese jewelry for women, a Chinese bride's marriage garments, tiny shoes of Chinese women, lengths of fabric for feet binding, and a miniature mold of a woman's foot. In old China, the female foot was considered the main object of a man's caress (shown in pertinent drawings in illustrations to the novel "Tszin, Pin, Mei"). In Japan and China, there was no ban on eroticism; it was not considered indecent. Sensual love was one of the main subjects of 17th - 19th century traditional engravings. The exhibition shows a book of erotic fantasies written in the middle of the last century, which is decorated with engravings of Kuniesi, a celebrated master of the Osaka school of engraving. Beginning in the Middle Ages, Japanese art and literature often portrayed the story of the hard fate of men, who, by shipwreck or other circumstance, landed on an island hidden in the ocean that was populated only by women. At the exhibition, one may see a 7-meter long (23 ft.) scroll by an unknown artist, devoted to this subject (rice paper, mid-19th century). Scenes of physical intimacy are forcefully expressed in sculptural forms and pictures from Tantric Buddhism. Looking at small statues of copulating deities and the mystical practice of ritual sexual acts, symbolizing the creative and primordial beginning, helped adepts of Tantric Buddhism increase their psychic energy. This part of the exhibition contains statuettes of various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Idams, as well as various images of Buddhist treasures, bells, and so on. The exhibition was prepared by the Department of East and Southeast Asia.