Shudō

Shudō (衆道, shudō) was a form of age-structured homosexuality prevalent in samurai society from the medieval period until the end of the 19th century.^{[citation needed]} The word is an abbreviation of wakashudō (若衆道), "the way of the young" or more precisely, "the way of young (若 waka) men (衆 shū)".

The older partner was known as the nenja (念者), and the younger as the wakashū (若衆).

Origins

Though the term shudo first appears in 17th century, it is preceded in the Japanese homosexual tradition by the love relationships between bonzes and their acolytes, who were known as chigo. The legendary supposed founder of male homosexuality in Japan is Kūkai, also known as Kōbō Daishi, the founder of the Shingon school of thought who is said to have brought it over from the mainland. ^[1]

Cultural aspects

A youth entertains an older lover, covering his eyes while surreptitiously kissing a girl servant.

The teachings of shudo, "The Way of the Young", entered the literary tradition and can be found in such as works as Hagakure (葉隠), "Hidden by Leaves", and other samurai manuals.

Much of the historical and fictional literature of the period praised the beauty and valor of boys faithful to shudo. The modern historian Jun'ichi Iwata drew up a list of 457 such titles from the 17th and 18th centuries alone, considered a "corpus of erotic pedagogy." (Watanabe & Iwata, 1989)

With the rise in power and influence of the merchant class, aspects of the practice of shudo were adopted by the middle classes, and homoerotic expression in Japan began to be more closely associated with travelling kabuki actors known as tobiko ( 飛子) , "fly boys," who moonlighted as prostitutes.

In the Edo period (1600-1868), kabuki actors (known as onnagata when playing female roles) often worked as prostitutes off-stage. Kagema were male prostitutes who worked at specialist brothels called "kagemajaya" (陰間茶屋: kagema tea houses). Both kagema and kabuki actors were much sought after by the sophisticates of the day, who often practiced danshoku/nanshoku, or homosexuality.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning with the Meiji restoration and the rise of Western influence, the practice declined.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ 井原西鶴, Ihara Saikaku. (Paul Gordon Schalow, trans.). The Great Mirror of Male Love. Stanford University Press, 1990.

Shudō

Origins

Cultural aspects

See also

References

Further reading