Just for the laughs.
This is a translation of that "Gay in Japan"-article out of the German Koneko, issue 11/2008.
WARNING: Not proof-read.
GAY IN JAPAN
Japanese sex morals are some of the most open-minded in the world; still Japanese gays and lesbians don't have it easy...
Being homosexual (Jap. 同性愛 dôseiai) in Japan should be pretty okay, considering the enormous amount of Shônen Ai-manga and -anime which make the world a bit more pink, produced in the Country of Smiles. And actually there seems to be no "gay-bashing" whatsoever, other than in Christian or Islamic countries. Is Japan the paradise for gays and lesbians then? No, not really... The apparent acceptance of homosexuals in most parts of the Japanese society is more ignorance than acceptance. The Japanese see no meaning in questioning another person's personal background, much less their sex life. This is related to the Japanese moral opinions that these kind of themes are not to be made public; sexuality and on top of that homosexuality is indeed omnipresent in some media, but the general consensus in that the stereotypical Japanese is not to be homosexual.
Unlike in Germany, Japanese homosexuals don't have rights, they are rather disadvantaged. The probability of a flat being rented to a same-sex couple is very low. Because Japanese differentiate very strongly between homosexual sex and a homosexual orientation, they tolerate the sex, but an outed gay person can lead this to no rights whatsoever or hope for equal treatment as heterosexuals. That's why most homosexuals conceal their sexual orientation or even agree to a fictitious marriage. Moreover, homosexuals in Japan are mostly reduced to an one-sided image of a fag, which is said to be "kawaii", as cute, and praised as positive in the as infantile described Japanese society, but it cannot pay any justice to the single individual. You don't want to get involved privately with the "cute" gays, too.
Strangely, this doesn't count for foreigners, who enjoy some kind of jester's license and can do whatever they want. Still homosexuality has a long tradition in Japan; e.g. compared to the antique European cultures (Greece, Rome, etc.) it was pretty ordinary that a young samurai had an apprenticeship with an older, more experienced man and was his lover for a certain time. The whole thing was called Shudo ("The Customs of the Youngsters") and was definitely prestigious in the warrior class. As the Japanese culture was more peaceful, the customs of the warrior class were still applied in the social middle-class. That's why for example young Kabuki-actors (so called Kagema) were enmeshed by male patrons, who contended for the favor of these beautiful young men.
Also in Japans art and literature you'll meet more often than not homosexual topics, which are sometimes illustrated very open (e.g. the Japanese print graphics, especially Ukiyo-e ("Pictures of a flowing world") and the "Pictures of the Spring", the quite erotic Shunga) and sometimes concealed with references and ambiguities. Ancient Japanese sources often contain very ambiguous elements, so there is no way to tell whether they refer to homosexuality or not. Not until later it became more explicit; for instance the main character in "The Story of Prince Genji", Genji himself, gets into a situation where a women declined his approaches and he sleeps with her brother instead.
T/N: As perhaps some of you already know, dôseiai, in opposite to what the article states, only means a same-sex relationship. As Nakatsu in HanaKimi refers to himself as "homo", I guess in Japanese you'd rather use that expression instead of dôseiai. This just as a side note.
I cannot say more to the things in this article, because I don't have the time to research about them, but just the fact that they throw various expressions at you made me tired of reading this article. XD
Now please tell me in how far this is related to the pictures, scan credit to sere-chan.
WARNING: Not proof-read.
GAY IN JAPAN
Japanese sex morals are some of the most open-minded in the world; still Japanese gays and lesbians don't have it easy...
Being homosexual (Jap. 同性愛 dôseiai) in Japan should be pretty okay, considering the enormous amount of Shônen Ai-manga and -anime which make the world a bit more pink, produced in the Country of Smiles. And actually there seems to be no "gay-bashing" whatsoever, other than in Christian or Islamic countries. Is Japan the paradise for gays and lesbians then? No, not really... The apparent acceptance of homosexuals in most parts of the Japanese society is more ignorance than acceptance. The Japanese see no meaning in questioning another person's personal background, much less their sex life. This is related to the Japanese moral opinions that these kind of themes are not to be made public; sexuality and on top of that homosexuality is indeed omnipresent in some media, but the general consensus in that the stereotypical Japanese is not to be homosexual.
Unlike in Germany, Japanese homosexuals don't have rights, they are rather disadvantaged. The probability of a flat being rented to a same-sex couple is very low. Because Japanese differentiate very strongly between homosexual sex and a homosexual orientation, they tolerate the sex, but an outed gay person can lead this to no rights whatsoever or hope for equal treatment as heterosexuals. That's why most homosexuals conceal their sexual orientation or even agree to a fictitious marriage. Moreover, homosexuals in Japan are mostly reduced to an one-sided image of a fag, which is said to be "kawaii", as cute, and praised as positive in the as infantile described Japanese society, but it cannot pay any justice to the single individual. You don't want to get involved privately with the "cute" gays, too.
Strangely, this doesn't count for foreigners, who enjoy some kind of jester's license and can do whatever they want. Still homosexuality has a long tradition in Japan; e.g. compared to the antique European cultures (Greece, Rome, etc.) it was pretty ordinary that a young samurai had an apprenticeship with an older, more experienced man and was his lover for a certain time. The whole thing was called Shudo ("The Customs of the Youngsters") and was definitely prestigious in the warrior class. As the Japanese culture was more peaceful, the customs of the warrior class were still applied in the social middle-class. That's why for example young Kabuki-actors (so called Kagema) were enmeshed by male patrons, who contended for the favor of these beautiful young men.
Also in Japans art and literature you'll meet more often than not homosexual topics, which are sometimes illustrated very open (e.g. the Japanese print graphics, especially Ukiyo-e ("Pictures of a flowing world") and the "Pictures of the Spring", the quite erotic Shunga) and sometimes concealed with references and ambiguities. Ancient Japanese sources often contain very ambiguous elements, so there is no way to tell whether they refer to homosexuality or not. Not until later it became more explicit; for instance the main character in "The Story of Prince Genji", Genji himself, gets into a situation where a women declined his approaches and he sleeps with her brother instead.
T/N: As perhaps some of you already know, dôseiai, in opposite to what the article states, only means a same-sex relationship. As Nakatsu in HanaKimi refers to himself as "homo", I guess in Japanese you'd rather use that expression instead of dôseiai. This just as a side note.
I cannot say more to the things in this article, because I don't have the time to research about them, but just the fact that they throw various expressions at you made me tired of reading this article. XD
Now please tell me in how far this is related to the pictures, scan credit to sere-chan.