GAY JAPAN, Part One

One might expect the Land of the Rising Sun to be gay friendly. After all, during the Edo Period the samurai, like the Spartans before them, practiced sodomy. Women were fine for continuing the family line, but real companionship and pleasure was often found in fellow men; usual younger boys. An older samurai would take a younger squire under his wing, teaching him not only the arts of war, but love as well. We see this, for example, in the works of Saikaku Ihara (1642-1693). It's even said that the founder of Noh Theater was the lover of the current Shogun (military ruler of Japan) at that time.

But that was, of course, the aristocracy. Japan, in its rush to modernize, embraced middle class Western ways in the Meiji Era (the late Victorian and Edwardian periods). After centuries of feudalism, they tossed the baby out with the bathwater, adopting not only Western technologies, but also fashion, cuisine, and sexual ethics. Prior to this period, meat was not on the menu (for Buddhist reasons). After, eating meat was fine because that is what they did in the West. The same went for the way homosexuality was viewed.

True, by Western standards, Japan is still very, VERY gay. Boys and men often appear far more feminine than their Western counterparts, in part because of DNA (they tend to be slighter, less hairy, more delicate looking), but also because of very different attitudes towards masculinity. You will find Japanese boys plucking each other's eyebrows, sleeping together naked, hugging, touching, and horse-playing in ways that would make most Westerners scream "gay! gay!" A recent visit by my (very) straight brother confirmed this. The fashion sense, the hair, all sets off any Westerner's gaydar...despite the fact that the boys are straight.

In addition, there is no religious nonsense clouding the issue here. Neither Shinto nor Buddhism shares the obsession with the bedroom that Christianity has, and despite centuries of missionary activity, less than 1% of the Japanese population goes to any Christian Church. As a result, the Japanese do not have the absurd sexual hang-ups Western civilization has.

But this doesn't mean being gay is fine. It is, in a sense. Gay people are treated fairly well here. And though I don't have any statistics handy, it strikes me from eight years of living here that far more Japanese boys are inclined to engage in mutual kissing, stroking, and masturbation than Western teens, even when totally straight. Being a gay teen or twenty-something is fine. After that, it becomes problematic.

You see, Japan also has a strong Confucian strain from China. That means getting married and having children is a duty to your ancestors. Of course, most Japanese these days don't phrase it that way...they only know that by 30 they should really start thinking about marriage and rugrats. You have no idea how many gay Japanese guys I have known, who despite their parents looking the other way during their twenties, suddenly expect them to marry in their thirties. And a shockingly large number do (and cheat with guys on the side). This makes homosexual experience a prerogative of the young. Gay sex is fine, so long as you get married and make babies.

to be continued...