LGBT in Japan

This article focuses on Japanese definitions of gender and sexuality, Japanese reactions to queer life, the clash between traditional and contemporary ideas, and the cultural restraints of being queer in Japan. The Western term “queer,” an umbrella term for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender represents a change in thought pertaining to gender and sexuality in contemporary Japan.

In Japan, gender and sexuality are not conceptualized through a binary frame within the context of individualism (homo- heterosexual, man-woman) but rather through a spectrum wherein the various social roles of the “all encompassing” group are emphasized. Under this construction, expressions of gender and sexuality are varied, as is evidenced by Japan’s gender-bending communities.

Transgenderism in Japan began during the Edo period. Women actors were banned from kabuki theatre performances and, in turn, effeminate male performers took on the roles of women. Such actors maintained their dress both inside and outside of the theater. It was widely believed, at the time, that only men could really know what beauty in a woman looked like. Moreover, if a man acted like a woman, dressed like a woman and took on the social roles of a woman, he was simply socialized as one. The latter is a result of how Japan conceptualized gender and sexuality in terms of adopted social roles. As Japan becomes more westernized there is growing concern for the treatment of the sexual and gender minorities.

With the introduction of Buddhism, one of the earliest forms of non-heterosexuality documented in Japan is found in young male homosexual practices during the Heian period (745 to 1185). Buddhism came to Japan from China by way of Korea during the Kofun period (300 to 710). Because Buddhist monks lived on steep mountains isolated within their own societies, they developed their own sexual customs. Young boys (age 11 to age 17) called “Tigo” served the monks sexually because female relationships were strictly forbidden.

In modern Japan, it is not uncommon to hear Western terms such as gay and lesbian, or “gei” and “rezubian.” Such terms differ significantly from terms used in the past and thus show a westernizing trend. Before western contact, Japan did not have a system of identification in which one’s identity was determined by one’s biological sexual preference. In fact, “the tripartite taxonomy of sexual types that has resulted from the social construction [homo-, bi-, heterosexuality-], held no currency in Japan.” However, this does not indicate that sexual behaviors between individuals of the same sex were not practiced. In fact, such behavior was so common in Japan that documentation of same sex relationships dates back over a thousand years.

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