전근대(前近代) 일본사회 남색(男色) 풍속의 역사에 관하여 = On the History of the Custom of Male Homosexuality in Premodern Japan

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to trace the history of the custom of male homosexuality in premodern Japan. When attempting to grasp the political and cultural aspects of traditional Japan, male homosexuality is a factor that cannot be overlooked. It first became prevalent among Buddhist monks in ancient Japan and following the Heian period spread to the Japanese nobility as well.
As warriors rose to power, male homosexuality extended into the samurai class, and by the Tokugawa period, the trend of the times conventionalized it into a form called "shudou" (衆道). The custom of male homosexuality further branched out to the chonin (町人), or merchants, as the economic power of the working class rapidly increased. The Tokugawa period was when the practice of baishoku (賣色) and red-light districts called yukaku (遊廓) prospered the most throughout the history of Japan, leading to the appearance of yukakus that particularly catered to male homosexuals during the same period. Male homosexual prostitution openly took place through show businesses such as kabuki.
What caused male homosexuality to settle down as a custom varied for each social class, but regardless of period or class, its nature has always been about the pederasty between adult males and boys. That nature is said to have been greatly influenced by the "divine boy" rooted as a religious archetype within premodern Japanese societies.
When reviewed within the context of East Asian history, Japanese society's attitude toward the custom of male homosexuality was surprisingly tolerant. Before the society became modernized and infused with western ideas and morals, male homosexuality was no different from heterosexuality in being regarded as a viable option to seeking pleasure, so it was not a subject of moral condemnation nor was it socially forbidden or taboo. Perhaps the openness to sex inherent in traditional Japan or in the religion and ideologies that governed Japanese societies had been what made it possible for male homosexuality to settle down as a custom. That will be a topic to be further explored in-depth in the future.

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