View source for Homosexuality in Japan

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{{Missing information|female homosexuality in historical Japan|date=September 2025}}

[[File:Client Lubricating a Male Prostitute Shunga by Kitagawa Utamaro 1790s.png|thumb|[[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 period|Tokugawa (or Edo) period]]. Historical practices identified by scholars as [[homosexual]] include {{nihongo||衆道|''shudō''}}, {{nihongo||若衆道|wakashudō}} and {{nihongo||男色|''nanshoku''}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Changing Nature of Sexuality: The Three Codes Framing Homosexuality in Modern Japan|last=Furukawa|first=Makoto|pages=99,100, 108, 112}}</ref>

The Japanese term {{nihongo||男色|nanshoku|which can also be read as ''danshoku''}} is [[on'yomi|the Japanese reading of the same characters in Chinese]], which literally mean "male colors". The character {{lang|ja|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 {{nihongo||衆道|shudō|abbreviated from {{transliteration|ja|wakashudō}} {{lang|ja|若衆道}}, "the way of adolescent boys"}} is also used, especially in older works.<ref name=":0" />

During the [[Meiji period]] ''nanshoku'' started to become discouraged due to the rise of [[sexology]] within Japan and the process of [[westernization]]. 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.{{sfn|Kang|2009|pp=100, 101}} The only time homosexual sodomy has been banned in Japan was for a short time in 1872–1880 due to western influence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tamagawa |first=Masami |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wte5DwAAQBAJ&dq=1872-1880+sodomy&pg=PA24 |title=Japanese LGBT Diasporas: Gender, Immigration Policy and Diverse Experiences |date=2019 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3030310301 |location= |page=24 |quote=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. |author-link=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Peakman |first=Julie |title=The Cambridge World History: Volume 7, Production, Destruction and Connection 1750–Present, Part 2, Shared Transformations? |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1316297841 |editor-last=McNeill |editor-first=J. R. |location= |page= |chapter=4 Continuities and change in sexual behaviour and attitudes since 1750 |quote=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 ... |author-link= |editor2-last=Pomeranz |editor2-first=Kenneth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBuzCAAAQBAJ&dq=1872-1880+sodomy&pg=PT144}}</ref>

Modern terms for homosexuals include {{nihongo3|literally "same-sex-love person"|同性愛者|dōseiaisha}}, {{nihongo3|"kettle"/"cauldron", 
slang interchangeably used for gay men, drag queens, gender nonconforming men and transgender women (though now seen broadly as a slur)|お釜|okama}},<ref name="Mandelin 2020">{{cite web |last1=Mandelin |first1=Clyde |title=The Japanese Word "Okama" in Video Game Translations |url=https://legendsoflocalization.com/okama-in-game-translation/ |website=Legends of Localization |access-date=7 October 2022 |ref=Mandelin 2020 |date=14 February 2020}}</ref> {{nihongo3|gay|ゲイ|gei}}, {{nihongo3||ホモ|homo}} or {{nihongo3|"homosexual"|ホモセクシャル|homosekusharu}}, {{nihongo3|"pot"/"pan", 
slang for "gay women"|お鍋|onabe}}, {{nihongo3||ビアン|bian}}/{{nihongo3||レズ|rezu}} and {{nihongo3|"lesbian"|レズビアン|rezubian}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue3/mclelland2.html|title=Intersections: Male Homosexuality and Popular Culture in Modern Japan|website=intersections.anu.edu.au|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>

== Pre-Meiji Japan ==
{{Main|History of Japan}}
{{Further|LGBT themes in mythology#Japanese}}

Historically, the [[Shintoism|Shinto religion]] "had no special code of morals and seems to have regarded sex as a natural phenomenon to be enjoyed with few inhibitions."<ref name="Crompton 2003">{{cite book |last=Crompton |first=Louis |author-link=Louis Crompton |year=2003 |title=Homosexuality and Civilization |chapter=Pre-Meiji Japan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TfBYd9xVaXcC&pg=PA413 |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=9780674022331 |lccn=2003245327 |page=413 |quote=[[Japanese Shintoism]] was principally concerned with propitiatory rites and ceremonies; [[Japanese mythology|its mythology]] fostered nationalism through the [[Imperial cult#Ancient and Imperial Japan|cult of divine emperors]], but it had no special code of morals and seems to have regarded sex as a natural phenomenon to be enjoyed with few inhibitions. [[Phallus|Phallic]] [[Shinto shrine|shrines]] dotted the countryside. Premarital virginity was not rigidly insisted upon, and freeborn boys did not lose status if they had adult lovers. Early law codes penalized incest and bestiality but not [[homosexual relations]]. The [[Shinto gods|gods of the Shinto pantheon]] were themselves highly sexual. In later times, some of them were seen as "guardian deities" of [[Love between men|male love]].}}</ref> While [[Shinto#Beliefs|Shinto beliefs]] are diverse, Japanese Shintoism historically did not condemn homosexuality, unlike bestiality and incest.<ref name="Crompton 2003"/> A variety of obscure [[Japanese literature|literary references]] to [[Same-sex relationship|same-sex love]] exist in ancient sources, such as [[LGBT themes in mythology#Japanese|Japanese mythology]],<ref name="Crompton 2003"/> but many of these are so subtle as to be unreliable. Additionally, they could be conflated with profuse declarations of affection for friends of the same sex, which were common.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/11/19/books/shifting-sexual-norms-japans-literary-history/ |title=The shifting sexual norms in Japan's literary history|last=Flanagan|first=Damian|date=2016-11-19|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> Due to the Chinese influence of [[Confucianism]] and [[Buddhism in china|Buddhism]], homosexuality was socially discouraged.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fian |first=Andi |date=2 December 2022 |title=BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM ON HOMOSEXUALITY: THE ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION BASED ON THE ARGUMENTS OF RELIGIOUS TEXTS |url=https://philarchive.org/archive/ALFBAC |journal=Journal of Religious Studies |language=English |publisher=Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS) |publication-place=Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Gadjah Mada |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=73–82 |via=Phil}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sexuality and gender |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/28469/chapter/229097470 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019071537/https://academic.oup.com/book/28469/chapter/229097470 |archive-date=2022-10-19 |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=academic.oup.com}}</ref>

Nevertheless, references do exist, and they become more numerous in the [[Heian period]], roughly in the 11th century. For example, in ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'', written in the early 11th century, men are frequently moved by the beauty of youths. In one scene the hero rejects a lady and instead sleeps with her young brother: "Genji pulled the boy down beside him ... Genji, for his part, or so one is informed, found the boy more attractive than his chilly sister".<ref>''The Tale of Genji''. Edward G. Seidensticker (trans.) p. 48.</ref> ''The Tale of Genji'' is a novel, but there are several Heian-era diaries that contain references to [[Homosexual sexual practices|homosexual acts and practices]]. Some of these contain references to [[Emperor of Japan|Emperors]] involved in homosexual relationships with "handsome boys retained for sexual purposes".<ref name="Leupp">{{cite book |last1=Leupp |first1=Gary |title=Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan |date=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91919-8 |pages=26, 32, 53, 69–78, 88, 90–92, 94, 95–97, 98–100, 101–102, 104, 113, 119–120, 122, 128–129, 132–135, 137–141, 145}}</ref>

=== Monastic homosexuality ===
{{Further|Buddhism and sexual orientation#Japanese Buddhism}}
[[File:Kuniyoshi Old-Buddhist.jpg|thumb|250px|''Old Buddhist'', by [[Utagawa Kuniyoshi]]. Note the exposed bare feet of the boy indicating the sexual demeanor while the brocade ''Kesa'' robe indicates the wealthy status of cleric.]]

''Nanshoku'' relationships inside [[Japanese Buddhism|Buddhist monasteries]] were typically [[Pederasty|pederastic]]: an age-structured relationship where the younger partner is not considered an adult. The older partner, or {{nihongo|''nenja''|念者||"lover" or "admirer"}}, would be a monk, priest or abbot, while the younger partner was assumed to be an {{nihongo|[[acolyte]]|稚児|chigo}}, who would be a prepubescent or adolescent boy;<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.2307/2384336 | jstor=2384336 | title=Chigo Monogatari. Love Stories or Buddhist Sermons? | last1=Childs | first1=Margaret H. | journal=Monumenta Nipponica | year=1980 | volume=35 | issue=2 | pages=127–151 }}</ref> the relationship would be dissolved once the boy reached adulthood (or left the monastery). Both parties were encouraged to treat the relationship seriously and conduct the affair honorably, and the ''nenja'' might be required to write a formal vow of fidelity. Outside of the monasteries, monks were considered to have a particular predilection for male prostitutes, which was the subject of much ribald humor.<ref name=":2">Pflugfelder, Gregory M. (1997). ''Cartographies of desire: male–male sexuality in Japanese discourse, 1600–1950''. University of California Press. p. 26, 39–42, 75, 70–71, 252,</ref>

There is no evidence so far of religious opposition to homosexuality within Japan in [[Ethnic religion|non-Buddhist traditions]].<ref>''The Greenwood encyclopedia of LGBT issues worldwide'', Volume 1, Chuck Stewart, p.430; accessed through Google Books</ref> [[Edo period|Tokugawa]] commentators felt free to illustrate [[kami]] engaging in [[anal sex]] with each other. During the Tokugawa period, some of the Shinto gods, especially [[Hachiman]], Myoshin, Shinmei and [[Tenjin (kami)|Tenjin]], "came to be seen as guardian deities of ''nanshoku''" (male–male love). Tokugawa-era writer [[Ihara Saikaku]] joked that since there are no women for the first three generations in the genealogy of the gods found in the [[Nihon Shoki]], the gods must have enjoyed homosexual relationships—which Saikaku argued was the real origin of ''nanshoku''.<ref>[[Homosexuality in Japan#CITEREFLeupp1997|Leupp 1997]], p. 32.</ref> Nonetheless, during the Edo period, male-female relationships were highly valued as it ensured propagation of offspring and social status.<ref>Love of Samurai: A thousand years of Japanese homosexuality (1989). By: Watanabe, Tsuneo; Iwata, Jun`ichi; Robertson, Jennifer. ''Journal of the History of Sexuality'', OCTOBER 1991, Vol. 2 Issue 2; (AN WMST-33096)</ref>

=== Samurai ''shudō'' ===
In contrast to the norms in religious circles, in the warrior ([[samurai]]) class it was customary for a boy in the ''[[wakashū]]'' age category to undergo training in the martial arts by apprenticing to a more experienced adult man. According to Furukawa, the relationship was based on the model of a typically older ''nenja,'' paired with a typically younger ''chigo''.<ref name=":0" /> The man was permitted, if the boy agreed, to take the boy as his lover until he came of age; this relationship, often formalized in a "brotherhood contract",<ref name="Leupp"/> was expected to be exclusive, with both partners swearing to take no other (male) lovers.

This practice, along with clerical pederasty, developed into the codified system of age-structured homosexuality known as ''shudō'', abbreviated from ''wakashūdō'', the "way (''[[Tao]]'') of ''wakashū''".<ref name=":2" /> The older partner, in the role of ''nenja'', would teach the ''chigo'' martial skills, warrior etiquette, and the samurai code of honor, while his desire to be a good role model for his ''chigo'' would lead him to behave more honorably himself; thus a ''shudō'' relationship was considered to have a "mutually ennobling effect".<ref name=":2" /> In addition, both parties were expected to be loyal unto death, and to assist the other both in feudal duties and in honor-driven obligations such as duels and vendettas. Although sex between the couple was expected to end when the boy came of age, the relationship would, ideally, develop into a lifelong bond of friendship. At the same time, sexual activity with women was not barred (for either party), and once the boy came of age, both were free to seek other ''wakashū'' lovers.

Like later Edo same-sex practices, samurai ''shudō'' was strictly role-defined; the ''nenja'' was seen as the active, desiring, penetrative partner, while the younger, sexually receptive ''wakashū'' was considered to submit to the ''nenja''<nowiki/>'s attentions out of love, loyalty, and affection, rather than sexual desire<ref name=":0" /><sup>''d'']</sup> Among the samurai class, adult men were (by definition) not permitted to take the ''wakashū'' role; only preadult boys (or, later, lower-class men) were considered legitimate targets of homosexual desire. In some cases, ''shudō'' relationships arose between boys of similar ages, but the parties were still divided into ''nenja'' and ''wakashū'' roles.<ref name=":0" />

[[Image:Samurai kiss.jpg|right|thumb|Man and youth, [[Miyagawa Isshō]], ca. 1750; Panel from a series of ten on a shunga-style painted hand scroll (kakemono-e); sumi, color and gofun on silk. Private collection. Note that the youth on the left is wearing a kimono whose style ([[furisode]]) and color was considered appropriate for adolescents of both sexes but not adult men, which along with the partially shaved pate denotes the boy's ''[[wakashū]]'' age status while the exposed bare feet indicates the purely sexual demeanor.]]

=== Kabuki and male prostitution ===
Male prostitutes (''[[kagema]]''), who were often passed off as apprentice [[kabuki]] actors and catered to a mixed male and female clientele, did a healthy trade into the mid-19th century despite increasing restrictions. Many such prostitutes, as well as many young kabuki actors, were [[indentured servant]]s sold as children to the brothel or theatre, typically on a ten-year contract. Sexual relations between merchants and boys hired as shop staff or housekeepers were common enough, at least in the popular imagination, to be the subject of erotic stories and popular jokes. Young [[kabuki]] actors often worked as prostitutes off-stage, and were celebrated in much the same way as modern celebrities are, being much sought after by wealthy patrons, who would vie with each other to purchase the Kabuki actors' favors. ''[[Onnagata]]'' (female-role) and ''wakashū-gata'' (adolescent boy-role) actors in particular were the subject of much appreciation by both male and female patrons, and figured largely in ''nanshoku'' [[shunga]] prints and other works celebrating ''nanshoku'', which occasionally attained best-seller status.<ref name="Leupp"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.androphile.org/preview/Culture/Japan/japan.htm|title=Gay love in Japan – World History of Male Love|access-date=8 April 2018|archive-date=3 August 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060803183048/http://www.androphile.org/preview/Culture/Japan/japan.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Male prostitutes and actor-prostitutes serving male clientele were originally restricted to the ''[[wakashū]]'' age category, as adult men were not perceived as desirable or socially acceptable sexual partners for other men. During the 17th century, these men (or their employers) sought to maintain their desirability by deferring or concealing their coming-of-age and thus extending their "non-adult" status into their twenties or even thirties; this eventually led to an alternate, status-defined ''shudō'' relationship which allowed clients to hire "boys" who were, in reality, older than themselves. This evolution was hastened by mid-17th-century bans on the depiction of the ''wakashū''<nowiki/>'s long forelocks, their most salient age marker, in kabuki plays; intended to efface the sexual appeal of the young actors and thus reduce violent competition for their favors, this restriction eventually had the unintended effect of decoupling male sexual desirability from actual age, so long as a suitably "youthful" appearance could be maintained.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Leupp"/>

[[File:Hiroshige-shunga3.jpg|right|thumb|{{Circa|1840}}. Hand-colored print by [[Utagawa Hiroshige]].]]

===Art of same-sex love===
These activities were the subject of countless literary works, most of which have yet to be translated. However, English translations are available for [[Ihara Saikaku]] who created a bisexual main character in ''The Life of An Amorous Man'' (1682), [[Jippensha Ikku]] who created an initial male-male relationship in the post-publication "Preface" to ''Shank's Mare'' (1802 et seq), and [[Ueda Akinari]] who had a homosexual Buddhist monk in ''Tales of Moonlight and Rain'' (1776). Likewise, many of the greatest artists of the period, such as [[Hokusai]] and [[Hiroshige]], prided themselves in documenting such loves in their prints, known as [[ukiyo-e]] "pictures of the floating world", and where they had an erotic tone, [[shunga]] "pictures of spring".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.androphile.org/preview/Museum/Japan/Japanindex.htm|title=Japanese Hall|access-date=8 April 2018|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173940/http://www.androphile.org/preview/Museum/Japan/Japanindex.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''Nanshoku'' was not considered incompatible with heterosexuality; Edo books of erotic prints dedicated to ''nanshoku'' often presented erotic images of both young women (concubines, ''mekake'', or prostitutes, ''jōrō'') as well as attractive adolescent boys (''[[wakashū]]'') and cross-dressing youths (''[[onnagata]]''). Indeed, several works printed in Edo suggest that the most "enviable" situation would be to have both many ''jōrō'' and many ''wakashū'' (it has been noted, however, that such an erotic ideal appears only in works printed in Edo — ''nanshoku'' books printed in [[Kamigata]] do not depict such bisexual romps).<ref name=":4">Mostow, Joshua S. (2003), "The gender of ''wakashu'' and the grammar of desire", in Joshua S. Mostow; Norman Bryson; Maribeth Graybill, ''Gender and power in the Japanese visual field'', University of Hawaii Press, pp. 49–70</ref> Women were also considered to be particularly attracted to both ''wakashū'' and ''onnagata'', and it was assumed that many of these young men would reciprocate that interest.<ref name=":4" /> Therefore, both many practitioners of ''nanshoku'' and the young men they desired would be considered [[Bisexuality|bisexual]] in modern terminology. Men and male youths (there are examples of both) who were purely homosexual might be called "woman-haters" (''onna-girai''); this term, however, carried the connotation of [[Misogyny|aggressive distaste of women]] in all social contexts, rather than simply a preference for male sexual partners. Not all exclusively homosexual men were referred to with this terminology.<ref name="Leupp"/>

=== Exclusive homosexuality and personal sexual identity ===

''[[The Great Mirror of Male Love]]'' (男色大鏡) by [[Ihara Saikaku]] was the definitive work on the subject of "male love" in Tokugawa Era Japan. 
In his introduction to ''The Great Mirror of Male Love'', Paul Gordon Schalow writes, "In the opening chapter of Nanshoku Okagami, Saikaku employed the title in its literal sense when he stated 'I have attempted to reflect in this great mirror all of the varied manifestations of male love.{{'"}}<ref name=":schalow">{{Cite book |last=Schalow |first=Paul |title=Introduction to The Great Mirror of Male Love |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1990 |isbn=0804718954 |pages=1, 4, 11–12, 29}}</ref> It was intended to be a societal reflection of all the different ways men in Tokugawa society loved other men.

The most common narrative of male to male sex and/or love was what we would now consider a "bisexual"{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} experience: the "connoisseur of boys" or ''shojin-zuki''. This term was applied not simply to men who engaged in "bisexual" behavior, but most often to men who engaged sexually and/or romantically with boys ''often'', but not exclusively.<ref name=":schalow"/><ref name="Leupp"/>


However, men who wished to only have sex/form relationships with boys (and men who filled the sociosexual role of "boy"): the exclusively "homosexual" "women haters" or ''onna-girai'', were also described.<ref name=":schalow"/><ref name="Leupp"/>
 
In ''Male Colors'' by Leupp, he writes:<ref name="Leupp"/><blockquote>In this brilliant, refined, and tolerant milieu, we have, not surprisingly, evidence of a self conscious sub-culture. Though the Great Mirror occasionally portrays bisexual behavior, it is noteworthy that Saikaku more often depicts devotees of male love as a class who think of themselves as exclusive in their preferences, stress this exclusiveness by calling themselves "women haters" (onna-girai) and forming a unique community—a "male love sect". No other early society shows this phenomenon quite so clearly as seventeenth century Japan.</blockquote>Paul Gordon Schalow references these concepts in his introduction to the full English translation of ''The Great Mirror of Male Love'', writing, "interestingly, Saikaku structured nanshoku okagami not around the 'bisexual' ethos of the shojin-zuki, but around the exclusively 'homosexual' ethos of the onna-girai."<ref name=":schalow" />
The poem at the beginning of ''The Sword That Survived Loves Flame'' references a heroic "woman hater":
<blockquote>Memories of a rice husker, a woman hater unto death, saving his birthplace from disaster
</blockquote>
In this same story, we see a character refer to himself and a friend as "woman-haters" in good humor. "What a couple of woman haters we are!" he exclaims, after they both agree that the love of "beautiful youths" is "the only thing of interest in this world".<ref>''The Love That Survived Loves Flame, The Great Mirror of Male Love''. Paul Gordon Schalow (trans.) p. 138, 139.</ref>


There were ''wakashū'' who would now be considered "homosexual", ''wakashū'' who would now be considered "bisexual", and ''wakashū'' who would now be considered "heterosexual", as well as many who could not be easily sorted into these categories.<ref name=":schalow"/><ref name="Leupp"/>

References to ''wakashū'' exclusively interested in men were relatively common, as in the example of the popular actor described in the story ''Winecup Overflowing'', who was sent many love letters from women, but who, "ignored them completely, not out of cold heartedness, but because he was devoted to the way of male love."<ref>''Winecup Overflowing, The Great Mirror of Male Love''. Paul Gordon Schalow (trans.) p. 222.</ref>

''Wakashū'' who felt this way could simply transition to being the "man" partner to a "boy", or, in some circumstances (of varying social acceptability), continue his life in the sociosexual role of "boy".<ref name=":schalow"/><ref name="Leupp"/>

Another Tokugawa author, Eijima Kiseki, who references exclusive homosexuality, writes of a character in his 1715 The ''Characters of Worldly Young Men'', "who had never cared for women: all his life he remained unmarried, in the grip of intense passions for one handsome boy after another."

There is a genre of stories dedicated to debating the value of "male colors", "female colors", or the "following of both paths". "Colors" here indicating a specific way of sexual desire, with the desire coming from the adult male participant, to the receiving woman or "youth".  Depending on what audience the story was written for, the answer to the preferred way of life might be that the best way is to be exclusive to women, moderately invested in both women and boys, or exclusive to boys. Although these "ways of loving" were not considered incompatible, there were people and groups who advocated the exclusive following of one way, considered them spiritually at odds, or simply only personally experienced attractions in line with one of these "ways".<ref name=":schalow"/><ref name="Leupp"/>

=== Social role play in man and boy roles ===

Traditional expressions of male to male sexual and romantic activity were between a man who had gone through with his coming of age ceremony, and a male youth who had not.<ref name=":schalow"/><ref name="Leupp"/>

In his introduction to ''The Great Mirror of Male Love'', Schalow writes, "a careful reading of nanshoku okagami makes clear that the constraint requiring that male homosexual relations be between an adult male and a ''wakashū'' was sometimes observed only in the form of fictive roleplaying. This meant that relations between pairs of man-boy lovers were accepted as legitimate whether or not a real man and a real boy were involved, so long as one partner took the role of 'man' and the other the role of 'boy.{{'"}}<ref name=":schalow"/>
 
In ''Two Old Cherry Trees Still in Bloom'', the protagonists are two men who have been in love since they were youths. The "man" in this relationship is 66, and the "boy" in this relationship is 63.<ref>''Two Old Cherry Trees Still in Bloom, The Great Mirror of Male Love''. Paul Gordon Schalow (trans.) p. 181.</ref>

In the realm of male kabuki (as opposed to "boy" kabuki), Saikaku writes,<ref>''Kichiya Riding a Horse, The Great Mirror of Male Love''. Paul Gordon Schalow (trans.) p. 215.</ref><blockquote>now, since everyone wore the hairstyle of adult men, it was still possible at age 34 or 35 for youthful-looking actors to get under a man's robe...If skill is what the audience is looking for, there should be no problem in having a 70 year old perform as a youth in long sleeved robes. So long as he can continue to find patrons willing to spend the night with him, he can then enter the new year without pawning his belongings.</blockquote>The protagonist of Saikaku's ''An Amorous Man'' hires the services of a "boy" who turns out to be ten years his senior, and finds himself disappointed.<ref name="Leupp"/>

In the ''Ugetsu Monogatari'', written by Ueda Akinari (1734–1809), the story ''Kikuka no chigiri'' is commonly believed to be about a romantic relationship between two adult men, where neither obviously holds the sociosexual role of ''wakashū'', though they do structure it with their age difference in mind, using the "male love" terminology "older brother" versus "younger brother".  In the story of Haemon and Takashima, two adult men, they also use this terminology, and Takashima additionally presents himself as a ''wakashū''.<ref name="Leupp"/>

Mentions of men who openly enjoy both being the penetrating and penetrated partner are not found in these works, but are found in earlier Heian personal diaries, like in the diary of [[Fujiwara no Yorinaga]], who writes on wanting to perform both the penetrative, and the receptive, sexual role. This is also referenced in a Muromachi era poem by the Shingon priest Socho (1448–1532).  This may indicate that the mores surrounding appropriate homosexual conduct for men had changed rapidly in the course of one-to-two centuries.<ref name="Leupp"/>

== Meiji Japan ==
As Japan progressed into the [[Meiji (era)|Meiji era]], same-sex practices continued, taking on new forms. However, there was a growing animosity towards same-sex practices which with contact with western academic production on psychopathology came to be seen as a mental illness.<ref>''Cartographies of desire'' (1999), pp 193 ff.</ref> Despite the animosity, ''nanshoku'' continued, specifically the samurai version of ''nanshoku'', and it became the dominant expression of homosexuality during the Meiji period.<ref name=":0" />

''Nanshoku'' practices became associated with the [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma region]] of Japan, the reason being that this area was deeply steeped in the ''nanshoku'' samurai tradition of the [[Edo period|Tokugawa period]]. Also, when the Satsuma oligarchs supported the restoration of power to the emperor, they were put into positions of power, allowing ''nanshoku'' practices to be brought more into the spotlight during this time period. Satsuma also made up the majority of the newly created Japanese navy, thus associating the navy with ''nanshoku'' practices. Though during this time Japan briefly adopted anti-sodomy laws in an attempt to modernize its code (more on this below), the laws were repealed when French legalist [[Gustave Boissonade]] advised adopting a similar legal code to France's. Moreover, ''nanshoku'' flourished during the time of the [[First Sino-Japanese War|Sino-]] and [[Russo-Japanese War|Russo-Japanese war]]s, due to the association of the warrior code of the samurai with nationalism. This led to close associations between the ''[[Bushido|Bushidō]]'' samurai code, nationalism, and homosexuality. After the Russo-Japanese War, however, the practice of ''nanshoku'' began to die down and receive pushback.<ref name=":0" />

=== Rejection of homosexuality ===
Eventually Japan began to shift away from its tolerance of homosexuality, moving towards a more hostile stance toward ''nanshoku'' and homosexual practices more generally. For instance, the [[Ministry of Justice (Japan)|Ministry of Justice]] passed a [[sodomy law]] in 1873 criminalizing homosexual practices, termed the {{nihongo|''keikan''|鶏姦}} code. This code had the effect of criticizing an act of homosexuality without actually criticizing ''nanshoku'' culture itself, which at the time was associated with the samurai code and masculinity. The ''keikan'' code came to be more apparent with the rise of groups of delinquent students that would engage in so called {{nihongo|''chigo''|稚児}} battles. These groups would go around assaulting other students and incorporate them into their group, often engaging in homosexual activity. Newspapers became highly critical of these ''[[bishōnen]]''-hunting gangs, resulting in an anti-sodomy campaign throughout the country.<ref name=":0" />

[[Sexology]], a growing field in Japan at the time, was also highly critical of homosexuality. Originating from Western thought, sexology was transferred to Japan by way of Meiji scholars, who were seeking to create a more Western Japan. Sexologists claimed that males engaging in a homosexual relationship would adopt feminine characteristics and would assume the psychic persona of a woman. They also claimed that homosexuality would degenerate into androgyny, in that the very body would come to resemble that of a woman with regard to such features such as voice timbre, growth of body hair, texture of hair and skin, muscular and skeletal structure, distribution of fatty tissues, body odor and mammary development.<ref name=":3">Pflugfelder, M. Gregory. 1999. "Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600- 1950": 256.</ref>

The only time homosexual sodomy (anal sex) has been banned in Japan was for eight years in 1872–1880 due to western influence.<ref>{{cite book |last= Tamagawa |first=Masami |author-link= |date= 2019|title=Japanese LGBT Diasporas: Gender, Immigration Policy and Diverse Experiences |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wte5DwAAQBAJ&dq=1872-1880+sodomy&pg=PA24 |location= |publisher=Springer Nature |page=24 |quote=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.|isbn=978-3030310301}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Peakman|first= Julie |editor-last=McNeill |editor-first= J. R.|editor2-last=Pomeranz |editor2-first= Kenneth |author-link= |date=2015 |title= The Cambridge World History: Volume 7, Production, Destruction and Connection 1750–Present, Part 2, Shared Transformations?|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OBuzCAAAQBAJ&dq=1872-1880+sodomy&pg=PT144|location= |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page= |quote=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 ...|isbn=978-1316297841|chapter=4 Continuities and change in sexual behaviour and attitudes since 1750 }}</ref>

Ming dynasty China banned homosexual sodomy (anal sex) in the [[Ming Code]] since the Jiajing emperor's reign and continued into the Qing dynasty until 1907, when western influence led to the law being repealed.<ref>{{cite book |volume=3 |series=China Beyond the Headlines |last=Kang |first=Wenqing |editor1-last=Weston|editor1-first= Timothy B. |editor2-last=Jensen |editor2-first=Lionel M. |date= 2012|title= China in and beyond the Headlines|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgBrkN4WY6MC&dq=jijian+100+sodomy&pg=PA234 |edition=illustrated |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |page=234 |quote=Jijian (Sodomy or Anal Sex between Males) In twentieth-century China homosexuality could be narrowly understood as ... stipulating that "whoever inserts his penis into another man's anus for lascivious play shall receive 100 blows of the ... |isbn=978-1442209060|chapter=11 The Decriminalization and Depathologization of Homosexuality in China}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Bao|first=Hongwei  |author-link= |date= 2020|series=Literary Cultures of the Global South|title= Queer China: Lesbian and Gay Literature and Visual Culture under Postsocialism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbfjDwAAQBAJ&dq=jijian+100+sodomy&pg=PT54 |location= |edition=illustrated|publisher=Taylor & Francis |page= |quote=4 The Chinese term jijian is not exactly equivalent to the English term 'sodomy'. ... Ming and Qing criminal laws made hetongjijian (consensual sodomy) an offence that involved a punishment of '100 strokes of heavy bamboo' because it ...|isbn=978-1000069020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last= Tin|editor-first= Louis-Georges|others=Translated by Marek Redburn |date=2008 |title= The Dictionary of Homophobia: A Global History of Gay & Lesbian Experience|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aK02DwAAQBAJ&dq=jijian+100+sodomy&pg=PT126|location= |publisher= arsenal pulp press|page= |quote=These laws were designed to address not only the kidnapping and rape of male youths (which may or may not cause their death), but also consensual sodomy (jijian). Those convicted of these crimes were punished by 100 strokes of a cane ...|isbn=978-1551523149}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |volume = 1 of Queer Asia|last= Kang |first=Wenqing |author-link= |date=2009 |title= Obsession: Male Same-Sex Relations in China, 1900-1950|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3UgBAAAQBAJ&dq=jijian+100+sodomy&pg=PA94 |location= |publisher= Hong Kong University Press|page=94 |quote=... shall receive 100 blows of the heavy bamboo, in application by analogy of the statute 'pouring foul material into the mouth ... “the statute quoted above never mentions jian at all, let alone the Qing legal term for sodomy, jijian. |isbn=978-9622099814}}</ref> The Chinese mocked and insulted Puyi and the Japanese as homosexuals and presented it as proof of their perversion and being uncivilized.{{sfn|Kang|2009|pp=100, 101}} During [[World War II]], straight Japanese soldiers were documented forcing gay people into sexual slavery in lands occupied by Japan, and forcibly turning some gay natives into "[[comfort women]]" and prisoners.<ref>Alegre, B. R. (2022). From Asog to Bakla to Transpinay. Alon: Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies, 2(1), 51–64</ref>

==Homosexuality in modern Japan==

Despite the recent trends that suggest a new level of tolerance, as well as open scenes in more cosmopolitan cities (such as [[Tokyo]] and [[Osaka]]), Japanese gay men and lesbian women often conceal their sexuality, with many even marrying persons of the opposite sex.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sodomylaws.org/world/japan/jpnews001.htm |title='Selectively Out:' Being a Gay Foreign National in Japan|publisher=The Daily Yomiuri (on [[Internet Archive]])|author=Elizabeth Floyd Ogata|date=2001-03-24|access-date=2006-08-30 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060617175751/http://sodomylaws.org/world/japan/jpnews001.htm |archive-date = 2006-06-17}}</ref>

===Politics and law===
{{Main|LGBT rights in Japan}}
Japan has no laws against homosexual activity and has some legal protections for gay individuals. While civil rights laws do not extend to protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation, some governments have enacted such laws.  The government of [[Tokyo]] has passed laws that ban discrimination in employment based on sexual identity.

Japan's society and government are predominantly conservative.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |last1=Khalil |first1=Shaimaa |title=Marriage equality eludes Japan's same-sex couples |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66173433 |website=[[BBC]] |access-date=3 October 2023}}</ref> Most political parties in Japan have formal positions in favor or against LGBT rights in their party's platform or manifesto. The [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) has indicated opposition to legalizing [[same-sex marriage]], whereas the [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan|Constitutional Democratic Party]] (CDP), the [[Japanese Communist Party]] (JCP), the [[Nippon Ishin no Kai|Japan Innovation Party]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-09 |title=日本維新の会の国会議員の皆さまと同性婚に関するオンラインでの意見交換勉強会を開催しました！ |url=https://www.marriageforall.jp/blog/20220209/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=結婚の自由をすべての人に – Marriage for All Japan – |language=ja}}</ref> and the [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic Party]] have indicated support for legalization.<ref>{{cite web|last=Inada |first=Miho |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/09/20/same-sex-marriage-in-japan-a-long-way-away/ |title=Same-Sex Marriage in Japan: A Long Way Away? – Japan Real Time – WSJ |publisher=Blogs.wsj.com |date=2013-09-20 |access-date=2014-06-16}}</ref> In a 2023 survey, [[Pew Research Center]] estimated that nearly 70% of Japanese people support same-sex marriage, the highest percentage of acceptance out of the Asian countries surveyed.<ref name="PewResearch">{{cite web |last1=Gubbala |first1=Sneha |last2=Poushter |first2=Jacob |last3=Huang |first3=Christine |title=How people around the world view same-sex marriage |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/27/how-people-around-the-world-view-same-sex-marriage/ |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref>

Some political figures are beginning to speak publicly about they themselves being gay. [[Kanako Otsuji]], an assemblywoman from [[Osaka]], [[coming out|came out]] as a lesbian in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050911x2.html |title=Assemblywoman Puts Sex on the Agenda – Lesbian Politician Kanako Otsuji Talks About Gender Issues in Japan |last=Tsubuku |first=Masako |date=September 11, 2005 |website=The Japan Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606015227/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050911x2.html |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref> She became the first elected member of the House of Councillors and of the Diet in 2013 and 2015 respectively to do so.  [[Taiga Ishikawa]] was elected in 2019, becoming the first openly gay man to sit in the Diet. He was out also during his time previously as a ward councillor for Nakano.

The current Constitution of Japan, which was written during American occupation, defines marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.<ref name=Tamagawa>{{Cite journal|last=Tamagawa|first=Masami|date=2016-03-14|title=Same-Sex Marriage in Japan|journal=Journal of GLBT Family Studies|volume=12|issue=2|pages=160–187|doi=10.1080/1550428X.2015.1016252|s2cid=146655189|issn=1550-428X}}</ref> In an unconventional effort to circumvent marriage restrictions, some gay couples have resorted to using the [[Japanese adult adoption|adult adoption system]], which is known as futsu, as an alternate means of becoming a family.<ref name=Tamagawa /> In this method, the older partner adopts the younger partner which allows for them to be officially recognized as a family and receive some of the benefits that ordinary families receive such as common surnames and inheritance.<ref name=Tamagawa /> In regards to the workplace, there are no anti-discrimination protections for LGBT employees. Employers play a visible role in reinforcing the Confucian tenets of marriage and procreation. Male employees are considered ineligible for promotions unless they marry and procreate.<ref name=Tamagawa />

While same-sex marriage is not legalized at the national level, the Shibuya District in Tokyo passed a same-sex partnership certificate bill in 2015 to "issue certificates to same-sex couples that recognize them as partners equivalent to those married under the law."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/03/31/tokyos-shibuya-ward-passes-same-sex-partner-bill/|title=Tokyo's Shibuya Ward Passes Same-Sex Partner Bill|last=Hongo|first=Jun|date=2015-03-31|website=WSJ|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-26}}</ref> Similar partnerships are available in Setagaya District (Tokyo), Sapporo (Hokkaido), Takarazuka (Hyogo), and over 20 other localities, as well as one prefecture (Ibaraki).<ref>{{Cite web|url =https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/world/asia/japan-gay-marriage.html|title=Japan's Support for Gay Marriage Is Soaring. But Can It Become Law?|last=Dooley|first=Ben|date=2019-11-27|website=NYT|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://shingetsunewsagency.com/2019/07/01/ibaraki-becomes-first-prefecture-in-japan-to-recognize-same-sex-couples/|title=Ibaraki Becomes First Prefecture in Japan to Recognize Same-Sex Couples|last=Maffei|first=Nikolas|date=2019-07-01|website=Shingetsu News Agency|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-02}}</ref>

===Popular culture===

====Mass media====
A number of artists, nearly all male, have begun to speak publicly about being gay, appearing on various [[talk show]]s and other programs, their celebrity often focused on their sexuality; twin pop-culture critics Piko and Osugi are an example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070807a1.html|title=Pride vs. prejudice|first=Jamie|last=Findlay|date=7 August 2007|access-date=8 April 2018|via=Japan Times Online}}</ref> [[Akihiro Miwa]], a [[drag queen]] and former lover of author [[Yukio Mishima]], is the television advertisement spokesperson for many Japanese companies ranging from beauty to financial products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4939796-1.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20100915195608/http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4939796-1.html|url-status=dead|title=On Japanese Tv, The Lady Is A Man Cross-dressing 'onnagata' Are Popul…|date=15 September 2010|archive-date=15 September 2010|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> 
[[File:Razor Ramon Hard Gay.jpg|thumb|right|[[Masaki Sumitani]]]]
Some entertainers have used stereotypical references to homosexuality to increase their profile. [[Masaki Sumitani]] a.k.a. Hard Gay (HG), a comedian, shot to fame after he began to appear in public wearing a leather harness, hot pants, and cap.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://kotaku.com/being-hard-gay-for-laughs-and-cash-5806679 |title=Being Hard Gay for Laughs and Cash |last=Ashcraft |first=Brian |date=May 30, 2011 |website=Kotaku |language=en-us |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref>  His outfit, name, and trademark pelvis thrusting and squeals earned him the adoration of fans and the scorn of many in the Japanese [[gay community]].

After 2010 the situation for people belonging to the LGBT community changed in many ways. They began to be viewed as a market for mainstream Japanese businesses<ref>Kawazawa; Würrer (2024): 6. The market is estimated to be worth around 5.7 trillion yen. </ref> and businesses started to promote LGBT rights protection in their self-marketing. Since then many companies developed environments that protect LGBT rights to attract diverse new employees and increase their brand value in the global market.<ref>Kawazawa; Würrer (2024): 7. </ref>

In April 2014, [[Hiromi (model)|Hiromi]], a [[fashion model]], came out publicly as a lesbian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110218-00000016-rbb-ent |title=Model Hiromi comes out as a homosexual : 'Love doesn't have any form, color and rule' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221135529/http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110218-00000016-rbb-ent |archive-date=February 21, 2011 |date=February 18, 2011 |website=Yahoo! |language=japanese |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref>

A greater number of gay characters have also begun appearing (with positive portrayals) on Japanese television, such as the highly successful ''[[Hanazakari no Kimitachi e]]'' and ''[[Last Friends]]'' television series.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Min|first=Yuen Shu|date=2011-09-01|title=Last Friends, beyond friends – articulating non-normative gender and sexuality on mainstream Japanese television|journal=Inter-Asia Cultural Studies|volume=12|issue=3|pages=383–400|doi=10.1080/14649373.2011.578796|s2cid=144254427|issn=1464-9373}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=For You in Full Blossom - Ikemen Paradise -|date=3 July 2007|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067118/|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> Boys' Love drama ''[[Ossan's Love]]'' aired first in 2016 as a standalone TV movie and was expanded to a TV series in 2018. The programme was so successful that a movie sequel was released the following year entitled ''Ossan's Love: LOVE or DEAD''. In 2019 male same-sex relationships became further visible with the popular adapted drama ''[[What Did You Eat Yesterday?]]''. ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' also brought homosexuals into the forefront with characters ''[[Haruka Ten'oh]]'' and ''[[Michiru Kaiou]]'', two female senshi in a committed same sex relationship.

{{Nihongo|''[[The Boyfriend (TV series)|The Boyfriend]]''|ボーイフレンド|Bōifurendo|lead=yes}} is a Japanese [[Reality television|reality]] [[dating show]] on [[Netflix]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Daisy |date=2024-07-09 |title=The Boyfriend review – the gay Japanese dating show that will have you punching the air with joy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jul/09/the-boyfriend-review-gay-japanese-dating-show-netflix |access-date=2024-07-14 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=2024-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714234659/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jul/09/the-boyfriend-review-gay-japanese-dating-show-netflix |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=Netflix's The Boyfriend is not just groundbreaking – it's the antidote to Love Island |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/netflix-the-boyfriend-japan-b2577321.html |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=2024-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712082409/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/netflix-the-boyfriend-japan-b2577321.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=Netflix's groundbreaking gay dating show The Boyfriend is nearly perfect |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a61550326/the-boyfriend-netflix-review/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB |archive-date=2024-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713202105/https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a61550326/the-boyfriend-netflix-review/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is the nation's first [[Same-sex relationship|same-sex]] dating program. It premiered on July 9, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wangu |first=Elah |date=2024-07-10 |title=The Boyfriend: Latest News, Release Date, Cast & Trailer |url=https://screenrant.com/the-boyfriend-latest-news-release-date-cast-trailer/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/japans-first-same-sex-dating-reality-show-is-coming-to-netflix-062024|title=The Boyfriend on Netflix is Japan's first same-sex dating reality show|first=Emma|last=Steen|date=July 9, 2024|website=Time Out Tokyo}}</ref>

====Media====
The subscription-based gay magazine Adonis was published from 1952 to 1962.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UrcFreVIyaQC&q=adonis+japanese+magazine&pg=PA133|title=Queer Japan from the Pacific War to the Internet Age|last=McLelland|first=Mark J.|date=2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780742537873|language=en}}</ref>

In 1975 twelve women became the first group of women in Japan to publicly identify as lesbians, publishing one issue of a magazine called Subarashi Onna (Wonderful Women).<ref name="vice">{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/lesbian-history-archive-artifacts/ |title=The First Lesbian Porn and 10 Other Revealing Artifacts from Lesbian History |publisher=VICE |access-date=2019-07-11}}</ref>

In the early 1990s many forms of media started to show interest in gay culture and especially the experiences of gay men. They focused on gay men in relationships with heterosexual women. Examples of media being produced in this time are the movies: ''[[Okoge (film)|Okoge]]'' (Fag Hag, 1992), ''Kira kira hikaru'' (Twinkle, 1992), the drama series ''Dōsokai'' (Class Reunion, 1993), and the movie adaptation of Matsu’ura Rieko's 1987 lesbian-themed novel ''Nachuraru ūman'' (Natural Women,1994).<ref name=":1">Kawasaka, Kazuyoshi; Würrer, Stefan (2024): Beyond Diversity: Queer Politics, Activism, and Representation in Contemporary Japan. Düsseldorf University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110767995 (Open Access). p. 3. 

</ref> Moreover, new gay magazines established themselves such as ''Badī'' (Buddy, 1993–2019) and G-men (1995–2016) and forged new ways in which the gay community could represent and build a community.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally, new magazines about lesbian experiences were published that challenged heteronormativity unlike former publications that often sexualised and pathologised lesbian experiences.<ref>Sugiura, I. (2007): Lesbian discourses in mainstream magazines of post-war Japan. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 11(3–4), 127–144. pp. 129–133. </ref><ref>Welker, J. (2017). Toward a history of “lesbian history” in Japan. Culture, Theory and Critique, 58(2), 147–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735784.2017.1282830. pp. 149–156. </ref> In 1987 the first commercial publication by and for lesbian women ''Onna o aisuru onnatachi no monogatari'' (Stories of Women Who Love Women) was published.<ref name=":1" />

One of famous Japanese director [[Hirokazu Kore-eda]]'s earliest movies, a documentary called ''August without Him'', released in 1994, follows Hirata Yutaka, the first openly gay [[AIDS]] sufferer in Japan. Filmed over a series of months, it contrasts his public life as an outspoken figure on the lecture circuit with his personal descent into illness and death.

With the rise in visibility of the gay community and the attendant rise of media for gay audiences, the [[Hadaka Matsuri]] ("Naked Festival") has become a fantasy scenario for gay videos.<ref>''Male homosexuality in modern Japan: cultural myths and social realities'' By Mark J. McLelland, p.122; accessed through Google Books</ref>{{Vague|date=June 2018}}

[[Bara (genre)|Gei-comi]] ("gay-comics") are gay-romance themed comics aimed at gay men.  While [[yaoi]] comics often assign one partner as a "uke", or feminized receiver, gei-comi generally depict both partners as masculine and in an equal relationship.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbohAAAAQBAJ&q=gei+comi+japan&pg=PA95|title=Naughty Girls and Gay Male Romance/Porn: Slash Fiction, Boys' Love Manga, and Other Works by Female "Cross-Voyeurs" in the U.S. Academic Discourses|last=Bauer|first=Carola Katharina|date=2013-05-17|publisher=Anchor Academic Publishing (aap_verlag)|isbn=9783954890019|language=en}}</ref> Another common term for this genre is ''bara'', stemming from the name of the first publication of this genre to gain popularity in Japan, ''[[Barazoku]]''. Yaoi works are massive in number with much of the media created by women usually for female audiences. In the west, it has quickly caught on as one of the most sought-after forms of pornography. There is certainly no disparity between [[yaoi]] as a pornographic theme, vs [[Yuri (genre)|Yuri]].

Lesbian-romance themed anime and manga is known as ''[[Yuri (genre)|yuri]]'' (which means "lily").  It is used to describe female-female relationships in material and is typically marketed towards straight people, homosexuals in general, or lesbians despite significant stylistic and thematic differences between works aimed at the different audiences.  Another word that has become popular in Japan as an equivalent term to Yuri is "GL" (short for "Girls' Love" in opposite to "Boys' Love"). There are a variety of yuri titles (or titles that integrate yuri content) aimed at women, such as ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', ''[[Oniisama e...]]'', ''[[Maria-sama ga Miteru]]'', some aspects of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' (most notably Haruka and Michiru), ''[[Strawberry Shake Sweet]]'', ''[[Love My Life (manga)|Love My Life]]'', etc.; and there are a variety of yuri titles of anime such as ''[[Kannazuki no Miko]]'', ''[[Strawberry Panic!]],'' ''[[Simoun (anime)|Simoun]]'', and ''[[My-Hime]]''. ''[[Comic Yuri Hime]]'' is a long-time running manga magazine in Japan that focuses solely on yuri stories, which gained merges from its other subsidiary comics and currently runs as the only Yuri Hime named magazine. Other magazines and anthologies of Yuri that have emerged throughout the early 21st century are ''Mebae'', ''[[Hirari (magazine)|Hirari]]'', and ''[[Tsubomi (magazine)|Tsubomi]]'' (the latter two ceased publication before 2014).

===2021 court ruling===
{{Main|Recognition of same-sex unions in Japan}}

In March 2021, the Sapporo District Court of Japan declared and announced that the 1984 law banning [[same-sex marriage]] is [[Constitution of Japan|unconstitutional]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56425002 |title=Japan Court Finds Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional |date=March 17, 2021 |website=BBC News |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref> In June 2022, the Osaka District Court released a ruling which found the ban unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite news |last1=The Associated Press |title=Japan court says ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106313824/japan-court-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-constitutional |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=NPR |date=20 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan|LGBTQ}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Catamite]]
* [[Greek love]]
* [[History of erotic depictions]]
* [[History of homosexuality]]
* [[History of human sexuality]]
* [[Homoeroticism]]
* [[Homosexuality in ancient Greece]]
* [[Homosexuality in ancient Rome]]
* [[Homosexuality in China]]
* [[Homosexuality in India]]
* [[Human male sexuality]]
* [[Japan]]
* [[Bara (genre)]]
* {{interlanguage link|Gay pornography in Japan|ja|ゲイ・ポルノ}}
* {{interlanguage link|Gay magazine in Japan|ja|ゲイ雑誌}}
* {{interlanguage link|Gay video in Japan|ja|ゲイビデオ}}
* [[Kagema]]
* {{interlanguage link|Kagemajaya|ja|陰間茶屋}}
* [[LGBT culture in Tokyo]]
* [[LGBT history]]
* [[LGBT rights in Japan]]
* [[Miidera (play)|''Miidera'' (play)]]
* [[Pederasty in ancient Greece]]
* [[Pederasty]] 
* [[Sexual minorities in Japan]]
* [[Yaoi]]
* [[Yuri (genre)|Yuri]]
* [[Wakashū]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Bornoff, Nicholas. ''Pink Samurai: Love, Marriage & Sex in Contemporary Japan''.
*Leupp, Gary.  ''Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan''.  Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1997.

==External links==
{{Commons category|LGBT in Japan}}
*[http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue12_contents.html "Queer Japan", special issue of ''Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context'']
*[http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue14/suganuma.htm "Enduring Voices: Fushimi Noriaki and Kakefuda Hiroko's Continuing Relevance to Japanese Lesbian and Gay Studies and Activism", by Katsuhiko Suganuma]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160113091820/http://www.dijtokyo.org/doc/dij-jb16-welker.pdf "Telling Her Story: Narrating a Japanese Lesbian Community", by James Welker]
* "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnrAISE6x08 Japan (GAYCATION Episode 1)]." [[Viceland]]. February 24, 2016.
*[https://rictornorton.co.uk/bibliog/biborien.htm Bibliography of Gay and Lesbian History]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121026114411/http://stonewall.ajet.net/ Resource and Support group for LGBT foreigners in Japan "Stonewall AJET"]

{{LGBT in Japan}}
{{Asia in topic|Homosexuality in}}
{{Homosexuality around the world}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homosexuality}}
[[Category:LGBTQ in Japan]]
[[Category:Sexuality in Japan]]