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Book Description
Tokugawa Japan ranks with ancient Athens as a society that not only tolerated, but celebrated, male homosexual behavior. Few scholars have seriously studied the subject, and until now none have satisfactorily explained the origins of the tradition or elucidated how its conventions reflected class structure and gender roles. Gary P. Leupp fills the gap with a dynamic examination of the origins and nature of the tradition. Based on a wealth of literary and historical documentation, this study places Tokugawa homosexuality in a global context, exploring its implications for contemporary debates on the historical construction of sexual desire. Combing through popular fiction, law codes, religious works, medical treatises, biographical material, and artistic treatments, Leupp traces the origins of pre- Tokugawa homosexual traditions among monks and samurai, then describes the emergence of homosexual practices among commoners in Tokugawa cities. He argues that it was "nurture" rather than "nature" that accounted for such conspicuous male/male sexuality and that bisexuality was more prevalent than homosexuality. Detailed, thorough, and very readable, this study is the first in English or Japanese to address so comprehensively one of the most complex and intriguing aspects of Japanese history.
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From the Back Cover
"An invaluable resource for anyone seeking a history of the representation of homosexuality in Japan." (Sandra Buckley, author of Broken Silence: Voices of Japanese Feminism)
--This text refers to the
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Product Details
- Paperback: 317 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN: 0520209001
- Product Dimensions: 9.0 x 6.0 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.0 pounds. (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 7 reviews.
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Amazon.com Sales Rank: #340,138 in Books (See Top Sellers in Books)
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
One must assume that male homosexual behavior, however specifically constructed, occurs to some extent in every society, in every era. Read the first page
Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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female role actor, samurai nanshoku, genpuku ceremony, insertee role, heterosexual fellatio, brotherhood bond, homosexual involvements, gender blending, samurai status, male prostitution, male brothels, sex with boys, ranking samurai, kabuki drama, pleasure quarters, kabuki actors, male prostitutes, young samurai
Capitalized Phrases (CAPs):
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Tokugawa Japan, Hiraga Gennai, Fukuda Kazuhiko, Ihara Saikaku, East Asia, Ejima Kiseki, Nishikawa Sukenobu, Oda Nobunaga, Hishikawa Moronobu, Ueda Akinari, Hong Kong, Hayashi Razan, Francis Xavier, Iwata Jun'ichi, Kitagawa Utamaro, Kitamura Kigin, Middle Kingdom, Arai Hakuseki, Okumura Masanobu, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Engelbert Kaempfer, Yushima Tenjin, Seals Affixed, Year of the Snake
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
ABOUT NANSHOKU, January 19, 2000
It is very interesting for us Japanese to read a this kind of book written by a foreign author. But there is one thing to be disappointed that Mr. Leupp didn't treat before Edo period so minutely, because male homosexuality in Japan was much more popular and prosper in pre-Edo period both in samurai society and in the aristocracy, the priesthood also than in Edo period, as many Japanese recognize. From Insei period on, especially in late-Kamakura, Muromachi to Momoyama period, male-male love was highly estimated and enthusiastically celebbrated, and almost of all Shogun i.e. supreme commanders, Daimyo i.e. war lords et Tenno i.e. emperors had their male lovers. Some of famous Daimyo and Tenno never married nor had any heterosexual relationship , for they thought to abstain from sex with women is a brave , manly and pious behavior. There 're so many documents & literal texts e. g. Anthology of paiderastia just like the Greek Musa paidike by Straton. Even quasi-marriage ceremony between men NENKEI was usually performed, and several famous Shogun & Daimyo were assasinated out of male-love jealousy or homoerotical troubles. On the other hand, Edo period was nothing but a slow and long decline process of male homosexuality which was vulgalized & commercialized. Yet, even in Meiji period , pederasty was more popular than heterosexuality among students. And Ko-ha i.e. manly students engaged in pederasty , on the contrary Nan-pa i.e. soft students loved women, but the latter was despised as effeminate.Anyhow some readers may misunderstand as if in Japan male homosexuality became most vigorous in Tokugawa period. However I would like to point out that such a conception is not correct . I want to comment more, but night's candles are burnt out, so I mugt go to bed now. Anyway after ancient Greek , only Japanese could have enhanced male homosexuality to highly ethical valued SHUDO i.e. the way of male love. And I hope many people study Japanese culture, history & literature more.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
A major academic work that was a pleasure to read, November 10, 2002
Not many scholarly works read well, but this one does. Even if you are not a student of Japanese history and culture, "Male Colors" is a pleasure. Yes, there are sections with a lot of Japanese names (particularly when the author cites a string of sources), but by and large, this work is very accessable to us mere mortals who are interested in the history of same-sex love.Initially, as the author describes, same-sex love in Japan was something practiced by elite groups: first the Zen Buddhist monks who are believed to have imported the practice from China (a curious notion because this also carries the connotation that homosexuality came from "some place else") and then the samuri elite. While factors such as the lack of eligible women may have contributed to the general acceptance of bisexuality, many, if not most, of the practicers of nanshoku had deep emotional ties to their partners. But as urban life began to grow, nanshoku was popularized through a combination of the kabuki theater and the commercial sex enterprises that cropped up. Also interesting were all the examples of art depicting nanshoku, some of it quite ribald and most of it graphic. But that just lends more weight to the notion that there was no stigma attached to boy love during this period in Japan, at least not a universal stigma; it was quite nearly universally tolerated and any effort to control nanshoku usually was to control violent fights over popular boy prostitutes rather than a governmental decree against homosexual sex. The book is heavy on male sexuality with little mention of lesbianism, but that's hardly a surprise considering most cultures tend to be strongly patriarchal and it is the men who record history. And as usual, it appears that it was through contact with the West, particularly with Christian missionaries, that the practice of nanshoku was eventually shunned into the crepuscular corners of Japanese culture. More evidence that if there is harm caused by same-sex activity, the harm is caused by a prudish societal mentality orignating in a rigid Judeo-Christian ethic that thrives on domination and guilt.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Informational and Interesting Read!, February 24, 2004
Reviewer: A reader
I bought this book last year when I was doing a study on the construction of modern Japan, and I saw this book and thought it looked interesting. I didn't end up reading it until a few months ago, but once I started it I didn't put it down. This is a really interesting and accesible book. Although it is filled with lots of information, it is well written so that it flows along like a novel. It is easy and interesting to read, without being clogged down with lots of scientific and research terms. Although the topic of Japanese homosexuality isn't one that I have studied too intensly, I found this novel to be very interesting and I think it gives an excellent over-view to the subject.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
the cut sleeves of Tokugawa, June 26, 2003
This is an extraordinary book. The author begins telling the reader that even in today's Japanese studies circle there is still bias against those who research such things as this book. With that in mind, I delved into this fascinating book. Before going into the book's contents I want to say that Dr. Leupp writes in a style that is very easy to read while conveying a great deal of information. Before I started reading this book I was worried that he was going to write in such an academic way that it would leave the subject matter quite sterile. That definately is not the case. The author begins the book at first with an explanation of the long hitorical trends of homosexuality that can be found in the histories of China and Korea and he places these histories of homosexul cultures beside those of Greece and other European countries. He then delves into the homosexual tradition of early Japan mainly focusing on the Imperial Court, Buddhist and Shinto monks and priests, and finally Samurai. After setting this precedent, he goes into detail of Tokugawa homosexuality, mainly focusing on Kabuki actors and Prostitutes. He uses examples from both historical records and literature. This is a great book that should be read by those who are interested in not only homosexual history, but those who are looking for a fuller understanding of Japanese hitory.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Amazing history of homosexuality....., July 7, 2001
Reviewer: A reader
The history of Japanese homosexuality is full of references to males dressing up as girls and serving powerful men in submissive relationships. Evidently bisexuality was the prevalent norm for Japanese MEN as almost every shogan has several 'beautiful boys' in addition to the women they kept. Many were exclusively devoted to beautiful young men---almost always dressed and acting like girls. This theme practically defines homosexuality in ancient Japan...the Japanese word for homosexuality was NANSHOKU which is loosely translates to english as "Male Colors". Nanshuko was so consistent in it's expression for so many years that it almost qualifies as a artistic expression or preference. "Bishounen means not only cute, harmonic, lovely boy features but refers to the open feminity of a boy, and the way he can be associated to feminine beauty and delicacy. It involves the heavenly face whose beauty is deeply androgynous though boyish enough to remind us of his male gender, the curvy hips, legs and butt the standard bishounen soprts and make him attractive to both sexes, the evident delicacy of manners and personality and, most important of all, the homosexual tendencies the boy shows by liking other, more masculine males." It is amazing that this expression of homosexual desire would exist so long in Japanese history even into a modern Japanese anime genre called "Yaoi"
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 Thorough Research--Excellent Result, May 21, 2001
Gary Leupp's research was clearly thorough, and his end-result benefitted greatly from it. Although I already knew of both the monastic and samurai traditions of same-sex pairings, to see the extent to which this permeated Tokugawa society was fascinating. It also gave strong argument to the constructivist theory of homosexuality, which, when considered alongside biological factors, makes for a coherent picture of sexuality in society. It's clear from the work that more research can and should be done: same-sex pairings among women, and the shift from the Tokugawa to the Modern era in Japan and the resulting changes in sexuality would make for excellent books as well. One curious thing is the appendix of glossed terms in Japanese, Chinese and Korean. I for one would have appreciated more than a vocabulary list; if the notes in the text had contained the original language versions of his text, I'd have been happier.
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