Homosexuality in Japan

Kitagawa Utamaro, "Client Lubricating a Prostitute" (while another peers through), late-eighteenth-century print, F. M. Bertholet Collection

Records of men who have sex with men in Japan date back to ancient times. Western scholars have identified these as evidence of homosexuality in Japan. Though these relations had existed in Japan for millennia, they became most apparent to scholars during the Tokugawa (or Edo) period. Historical practices identified by scholars as homosexual include shudō (衆道), wakashudō (若衆道) and nanshoku (男色).[1]

The Japanese term nanshoku (男色, which can also be read as danshoku) is the Japanese reading of the same characters in Chinese, which literally mean "male colors". The character 色 (lit. 'color') has the added meaning of "lust" in both China and Japan. This term was widely used to refer to some kind of male-to-male sex in a pre-modern era of Japan. The term shudō (衆道, abbreviated from wakashudō 若衆道, "the way of adolescent boys") is also used, especially in older works.[1]

During the Meiji period nanshoku started to become discouraged due to the rise of sexology within Japan and the process of westernization. However, during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II the Chinese mocked and insulted Puyi and the Japanese as homosexuals and presented it as proof of their perversion and being uncivilized.[2] The only time homosexual sodomy has been banned in Japan was for short time for 8 years in 1872-1880 due to western influence.[3][4]

Modern terms for homosexuals include dōseiaisha (同性愛者, literally "same-sex-love person"), okama (お釜, "kettle"/"cauldron", slang interchangeably used for gay men, drag queens, gender nonconforming men and transgender women),[5] gei (ゲイ, gay), homo (ホモ) or homosekusharu (ホモセクシャル, "homosexual"), onabe (お鍋, "pot"/"pan", slang for "gay women"), bian (ビアン)/rezu (レズ) and rezubian (レズビアン, "lesbian").[6]

  1. ^ a b Furukawa, Makoto. The Changing Nature of Sexuality: The Three Codes Framing Homosexuality in Modern Japan. pp. 99, 100, 108, 112.
  2. ^ Kang 2009, pp. 100, 101.
  3. ^ Tamagawa, Masami (2019). Japanese LGBT Diasporas: Gender, Immigration Policy and Diverse Experiences. Springer Nature. p. 24. ISBN 978-3030310301. The country's anti-homosexuality laws were gradually repealed between 1975 and 1997 (Carbery 2010). ... Japan never had a sodomy law, except the so-called Keikanh ̄o (1872–1880), which exclusively prohibited anal intercourse.
  4. ^ Peakman, Julie (2015). "4 Continuities and change in sexual behavioour and attitudes since 1750". In McNeill, J. R.; Pomeranz, Kenneth (eds.). The Cambridge World History: Volume 7, Production, Destruction and Connection 1750–Present, Part 2, Shared Transformations?. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1316297841. Prohibition of homosexuality has continued into the twentyfirst century in some places with criminal penalties, ... Homosexuality has never been illegal in Japan except for a short time from 1872– 1880, and although civil rights are not ...
  5. ^ Mandelin, Clyde (14 February 2020). "The Japanese Word "Okama" in Video Game Translations". Legends of Localization. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Intersections: Male Homosexuality and Popular Culture in Modern Japan". intersections.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 8 April 2018.