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    Sex in Various Cultures - Japan

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    PantatNyanehBurik
    1) In ancient Japan, eroticism was seen as an important part of cultured life among nobles as depicted in The Tale of Genji from the 8th century. 2) Homosexuality and various sexual practices were accepted until the Meiji period, though they went underground until resurfacing after the sexual revolution. 3) Traditional Japanese society emphasized social norms and avoiding shame over notions of guilt. Geisha fulfilled social roles for men outside of household duties and were paid for their artistry rather than being prostitutes.

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    Sex in Various Cultures - Japan

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    PantatNyanehBurik
    165 views2 pages
    1) In ancient Japan, eroticism was seen as an important part of cultured life among nobles as depicted in The Tale of Genji from the 8th century. 2) Homosexuality and various sexual practices were accepted until the Meiji period, though they went underground until resurfacing after the sexual revolution. 3) Traditional Japanese society emphasized social norms and avoiding shame over notions of guilt. Geisha fulfilled social roles for men outside of household duties and were paid for their artistry rather than being prostitutes.

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    1) In ancient Japan, eroticism was seen as an important part of cultured life among nobles as depicted in The Tale of Genji from the 8th century. 2) Homosexuality and various sexual practices were accepted until the Meiji period, though they went underground until resurfacing after the sexual revolution. 3) Traditional Japanese society emphasized social norms and avoiding shame over notions of guilt. Geisha fulfilled social roles for men outside of household duties and were paid for their artistry rather than being prostitutes.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    165 views2 pages

    Sex in Various Cultures - Japan

    Uploaded by

    PantatNyanehBurik
    1) In ancient Japan, eroticism was seen as an important part of cultured life among nobles as depicted in The Tale of Genji from the 8th century. 2) Homosexuality and various sexual practices were accepted until the Meiji period, though they went underground until resurfacing after the sexual revolution. 3) Traditional Japanese society emphasized social norms and avoiding shame over notions of guilt. Geisha fulfilled social roles for men outside of household duties and were paid for their artistry rather than being prostitutes.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Sex in various cultures - Japan

    A kabuki actor moonlighting as a sex worker, toys with his client; enjoying the favors of
    the serving girl. Nishikawa Sukenobu, Shunga-style woodblock print, ink on paper;
    Kyoho era (1716-1735)
    Main article: Sexuality in Japan
    In what is often called the world's first novel, the Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji), which
    dates back to around the eighth century AD, eroticism is treated as a central part of the
    aesthetic life of the nobility. The sexual interactions of Prince Genji are described in
    great detail, in an objective tone of voice, and in a way that indicates that sexuality was
    as much a valued component of cultured life as music or any of the arts. While most of
    his erotic interactions involve women, there is one telling episode in which Genji travels
    a fairly long distance to visit one of the women with whom he occasionally consorts but
    finds her away from home. It being late, and intercourse already being on the menu of
    the day, Genji takes pleasure in the availability of the lady's younger brother who, he
    reports, is equally satisfactory as an erotic partner.
    From that time on to at least as late as the Meiji Reformation, there is no indication that
    sexuality was treated in a pejorative way. In modern times homosexuality was driven
    out of sight until it reemerged in the wake of the sexual revolution with seemingly little
    if any need for a period of acceleration. Yukio Mishima, probably the best-known
    Japanese writer in the outside world, frequently wrote about homosexuality, and its
    relationship with Japanese culture new and old. Likewise, prostitution, pornography,
    the tradition of the Geisha, and countless types of fetish and sadomasochism have
    resurfaced after decades underground.
    In Japan, sexuality was governed by the same social forces that make its culture
    considerably different from that of China, Korea, India, or Europe. In Japanese society,
    the primary method used to secure social control is the threat of ostracism. Japanese
    society is still very much a shame society.[citation needed] More attention is paid to what is
    polite or appropriate to show others than to which behaviors might make a person
    seem "corrupt" or "guilty", in the Christian sense of the words. The tendency of people
    in Japanese society to group in terms of "in groups" and "out groups" - residue of its
    long history as a caste society - is a source of great pressure on every facet of society, via
    pop culture (reflected in the tribal, often materialistic, and very complex nature of
    teenage subcultures) as well as more traditional standards (as in the high-pressure role
    of the salaryman). Sexual expression ranges from a requirement to a complete taboo,

    and many, especially teenagers, find themselves playing many otherwise strictlyseparate roles during the week.
    A frequent locus of misconceptions in regard to Japanese sexuality is the institution of
    the geisha. Rather than being a prostitute, a geisha was a woman trained in arts such as
    music and cultured conversation, and who was available for non-sexual interactions
    with her male clientele. These women differed from the wives that their patrons
    probably had at home because, except for the geisha, women were ordinarily not
    expected to be prepared for anything other than the fulfillment of household duties.
    This limitation imposed by the normal social role of the majority of women in
    traditional society produced a diminution in the pursuits that those women could
    enjoy, but also a limitation in the ways that a man could enjoy the company of his wife.
    The geisha fulfilled the non-sexual social roles that ordinary women were prevented
    from fulfilling, and for this service they were well paid. The geisha were not deprived
    of opportunities to express themselves sexually and in other erotic ways. A geisha
    might have a patron with whom she enjoyed sexual intimacy, but this sexual role was
    not part of her role or responsibility as a geisha.
    As a superficial level, in traditional Japanese society women were expected to be highly
    subservient to men and especially to their husbands. So, in a socionormal description of
    their roles, they were little more than housekeepers and faithful sexual partners to their
    husbands. Their husbands, on the other hand, might consort sexually with whomever
    they chose outside of the family, and a major part of male social behavior involves
    after-work forays to places of entertainment in the company of male cohorts from the
    workplaceplaces that might easily offer possibilities of sexual satisfaction outside the
    family. In the postwar period this side of Japanese society has seen some liberalization
    in regard to the norms imposed on women as well as an expansion of the de facto
    powers of women in the family and in the community that existed unacknowledged in
    traditional society.
    In the years since people first became aware of the AIDS epidemic, Japan has not
    suffered the high rates of disease and death that characterize, for example, some nations
    in Africa, some nations in Southeast Asia, etc. In 1992, the government of Japan justified
    its continued refusal to allow oral contraceptives to be distributed in Japan on the fear
    that it would lead to reduced condom use, and thus increase transmission of AIDS.[4]
    As of 2004, condoms accounted for 80% of birth control use in Japan, and this may
    explain Japan's comparably lower rates of AIDS.[5]

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