Monday, October 20, 2008

Edo Period Gayness

Today I step away from the series of religion related entries to go a bit more profane.

Specifically I look at male male sexuality in the Edo Period. I would not touch such a subject, literally or figuratively, without a good secondary source. And I found a great one in Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse 1600-1950 by Gregory M. Pflugfelder. This is a very interesting scholarly study which I would recommend to anyone interested in the subject.

So the entries this week all have examples from volume 5 of Kaze Hikaru, a great manga about the Shinsengumi (see: The Anime Companion 2 p.86). A manga which I also highly recommend.

So on to the entries:

kagema (a type of male prostitute) 陰間

kagemajaya (kagema tea house) 陰間茶屋

shudō (the way of loving boys) 衆道

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