HEY! Answerman!
I haven't been watching anime and/or reading manga for very long. I'm very new to the hobby, about two years of watching and only, really, about a year of being a real fan. So, my question for you, Answerman, is:
How is the subject matter of yuri/yaoi viewed in Japan? Is someone that watches and/or reads yuri/yaoi material thought of negatively there or is it just viewed as another form of entertainment? Like, let's say, someone that prefers mecha or magical girlfriend; more a preference than a perversion.
Well, first of all I'd disagree with your statement that avid followers of yaoi and yuri look at it more of a "preference" than a "perversion." No, the perversion is definitely there. Maybe it's not always bubbling at the homoerotic surface, but it's absolutely the reason that most yaoi and yuri fans are reading the stuff. At some base level, the notion of two characters of the same animated gender touchin' and kissin' is titillating and exciting in some way. Now I'm not saying that all yaoi and yuri fans are eager to see some straight-up gay porno, because that's obviously not true either. Most of the best-selling yaoi titles, for example, are some of the worst gay porn I've ever seen. They don't even (censored) each other after (censored) (censored) (censored) their eager mouths! I couldn't believe it.
...anyway. Your actual question! Uh, as far as I've noticed, and from what friends of mine who've lived in Japan have told me, yaoi and yuri fans are looked at as... just about the same way as they are here. They're not viewed "negatively" per se, except in the sense that they are viewed and subsequently treated as a niche audience, not quite on the same plateau of popularity as mecha and moe fans. Yaoi fandom has become large and ubiquitous enough to where its hardcore fans now have their own nickname, 'fujoshi', which translates to 'rotten girl'. And nearly every new show out of Japan with a mostly-female cast seems to like to play in the realm of yuri stereotypes, I've noticed. So maybe yuri fans about to get their due, at least.
In the end though, it's all just entertainment and anime fans, especially the hardcore Japanese Otaku crowd, would have to be pretty hypocritical of themselves to cast harsh judgment upon their yaoi and yuri-loving brethren, so most of them seem to mind their own business about it, even if it's not their thing.
Seriously, anyone who reads yaoi and yuri out there, according to ANN you're a perv. Here is your sign scarlet letter.