Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan (Paperback)

~ Gary Leupp (Author) "One must assume that male homosexual behavior, however specifically constructed, occurs to some extent in every society, in every era..." (more)
Key Phrases: nanshoku tradition, engo jiten, genpuku ceremony, Tokugawa Japan, Hiraga Gennai, Fukuda Kazuhiko (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product 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.

From the Inside Flap

"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

"Opens a window on the complex and varied patterns of sexual relations between males in early modern Japan. Imperative reading for anyone concerned with human sexual expression in social context."--David F. Greenberg, author of The Construction of Homosexuality

"Nanshoku--male colors--as male same-sex eroticism and sexuality were known in early modern Japan, enjoyed an honored place in the life and mythology of the age, celebrated in art and literature with as much energy and enthusiasm as male-female eroticism. Unfettered by the moral opporbium that constrained--or concealed--male-male eroticism in Europe, male colors flew brightly in the public culture of urban Japan. Gary Leupp explores the practices and the cultural celebration of the Edo-era nanshoku tradition in this exuberant, sensitive, and yet dispassionate social and cultural history of male homoeroticism, the best modern scholarly study in English to date. Leupp ranges widely in a vast array of original literary, dramatic, and visual sources, which he brings to life with a finely textured use of comparative material from other traditions of male-male love both in East Asia and across the premodern world. Highly original and insightful, it will be standard reading for years to come."--Ronald P. Toby, author of State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu

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Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (May 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520209001
• ISBN-13: 978-0520209008
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #373,309 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ABOUT NANSHOKU, January 19, 2000

By	SEBASTIANVS "libra64" (TOKYO Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan (Hardcover)

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.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A major academic work that was a pleasure to read, November 10, 2002

By	Richard Harrold (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan (Hardcover)

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.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing history of homosexuality....., July 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan (Hardcover)

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"