is a Japanese term for historical young male

sex workers A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...

. were often passed off as apprentice

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

actors (who often engaged in sex work themselves on the side) and catered to a mixed male and female clientele. For male clients, the preferred service was anal sex, with the client taking the penetrative role; homosexual

fellatio Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may ...

is almost unmentioned in

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

(1603–1867) documents. who were not affiliated with an actual kabuki theatre could be hired through male

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

s or

teahouse A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

s specializing in . Such institutions were known as . typically charged more than female sex workers of equivalent status, and experienced healthy trade into the mid-19th century, despite increasing legal restrictions that attempted to contain sex workers (both male and female) in specified urban areas and to dissuade class-spanning relationships, which were viewed as potentially disruptive to traditional social organization. Many such sex workers, as well as many young kabuki actors, were

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...

s sold as children to the brothel or

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

, typically on a ten-year contract. could be presented as (young men), (adolescent boys, about 10–18 years old) or as (female impersonators). This term also appears in modern Japanese homosexual slang.

Gallery

Miyagawa Isshô-Spring Pastimes-A.jpg, A sits upon his elder patron's lap.

Miyagawa Isshō Miyagawa Isshō (, 1689 – 20 January 1780) was a Japanese painter in the ukiyo-e style, primarily depicting kabuki actors, geisha, sumo wrestlers, and other elements of everyday urban culture. He used several other names: Fujiwara Andō ( ...

, ''Spring Pastimes'', 1750

References

Bibliography

* Bernard Faure "The Red Thread" 1998. {{LGBT in Japan Kabuki Japanese sex terms History of human sexuality Japanese words and phrases Kagema Kagema Male prostitutes by type Gendered occupations LGBT history in Japan

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography