Sexuality in Japan
Encyclopedia
Sexuality in Japan has developed separately from mainland Asia
, as Japan
did not adopt the Confucian view of marriage
. Monogamy
in marriage
was not prized in Japan, and married men often sought pleasure from their courtesans, even though monogamy was very important in Chinese marriage
. Prostitution in Japan
has a long history, and became especially popular during the Japanese economic miracle, as evening entertainments were tax-deductible. Homosexuality in Japan
was more common in ancient times
but taboo in modern times. Japanese pornography
has a wide following worldwide and is translated and exported nearly everywhere due to its wide range of themes and media. Japan has a vibrant fetish
scene particularly in the larger cities that has influenced many fetish communities worldwide. Decreased sex drive
in the 21st century was blamed for the low Japanese birth rate
and declining growth of the Japanese population
.
found that 34.6% of marriages in Japan could be classified as "sexless", which the Japan Society of Sexual Sciences states is engaging in sex less than once a month. A 2005 Sex Survey of 317,000 people in 41 countries conducted by Durex
, the largest condom manufacturer in the world, found that the Japanese had the least sex in the world, at 45 times a year, with the second-to-last country of Singapore averaging 73 times a year, and the world average at 103 times a year. Additionally the survey reported only that only 24% of Japanese respondents said they were happy with their sex lives, compared to the global average of 44%. A 2008 and 2010 survey by the Japan Family Planning Association describes similar trends. The 2010 survey reported 36.1 percent of males between the ages of 16-19 responding that they had little to no interest in sex, in some cases even despising it, a figure that is more than double the 2008 surveys report of 17.5%. The 2010 survey also reported that 83.7% of men who turned 20 that year were not dating anyone, with 49.3% stating they had never had a girlfriend. 59% of female respondents of the same age group responded similarly, a 12% increase from the 2008 survey.
may have begun as early as the Edo period
as erotic artwork referred to as shunga
that was typically done on woodblock prints. Between the 1920s and '30s in Japan there was a literary and artistic movement known as ero guro which focused on eroticism, sexual corruption and decadence. Softcore pornographic theatrical films known as pink films dominated the domestic cinema in Japan from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s.
In contemporary times Japanese pornography has a gained a worldwide following and is frequently translated and exported to other cultures because of its large spectrum of themes and media. Pornography has in recent times expanded into new mediums in Japan such as manga (hentai
) and video games (eroge
) on top the more common film and historic mediums.
may have begun as early as the Edo period
as erotic artwork referred to as shunga
that was typically done on woodblock prints. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e
, the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan. Although rare, there are however extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement. Translated literally, the Japanese word shunga means picture of spring; "spring" being a common euphemism for sex in Japan.
The ukiyo-e movement as a whole sought to express an idealisation of contemporary urban life and appeal to the new chonin
class. Following the aesthetics of everyday life, Edo period
shunga varied widely in its depictions of sexuality. In the Edo period it was enjoyed by rich and poor, men and women, despite being out of favour with the shogunate. Almost all ukiyo-e artists made shunga at some point in their careers, and it did not detract from their prestige as artists. Classifying shunga as a kind of medieval pornography
can be misleading in this respect.
, eroticism had been gradually making its way into Japanese cinema. The first kiss to be seen in Japanese film—discreetly half-hidden by an umbrella—caused a national sensation in 1946. Foreign films throughout the 1950s introduced female nudity into international cinema, and were imported to Japan without problem. Nevertheless, until the early 1960s, graphic depictions of nudity and sex in Japanese film could only be seen in single-reel "stag films," made illegally by underground film producers such as those depicted in Imamura
's film The Pornographers
(1966).
Mainstream pornography wouldn't arrive in Japan until the advent of Pink film. Pink film, as it was referred to since the color pink carries erotic as well as feminine connotations with the Japanese as they associate it with a woman's vagina, was theatrical film which featured soft core, suggestive themes and later full-on nudity and sexual acts. The first wave of the Pink film in Japan was contemporary with the similar U.S. sexploitation film
genres, the "nudie-cuties" and "roughies". Nudity and sex officially entered Japanese cinema with Satoru Kobayashi
's controversial and popular independent production Flesh Market (Nikutai no Ichiba, 1962), which is considered the first true pink film. In the 1970s, some of Japan's major studios, facing the loss of their theatrical audience, took over the pink film. With their access to higher production-values and talent, some of these films became critical and popular successes.
When ownership of VCRs first became widespread in the early 1980s, AVs (adult videos) made their appearance and quickly became highly popular. As early as 1982 the AVs had already attained an approximately equal share of the adult entertainment market with theatrical erotic films. Since then the market for pink films has decreased tremendously with a majority of Japanese seeking pornography go to AVs.
Although the pink film genre has declined dramatically since the advent of AVs on VCR it is significant in that it paved the way for true pornography in Japan as well as for multiple other genres of pornography to be invented in Japanese film including: hamedori, roshutsu, and Japanese bondage
. Other genres of pornography the Japanese have produced include: group sex(with gang bang as a sub-genre), lesbian, and fetishes (particularly foot fetishes). Lotion play
is a popular element in Japanese pornography.
was invented in Japan refers to erotic manga
(Japanese graphic novels) and anime
(Japanese animation). The word "hentai" though has a negative connotation to the Japanese and is commonly used to mean "sexually perverted
", with those in Japan more often referring to it as "seijin" or "adult" manga/anime.
The adult manga/anime medium carries its own distinct sub genres as well. Futanari
or the sexual attraction to androgynous people is an extensive sub genre of seijin manga. Bakunyū is the sub genre that features females with very large breasts. While lolicon
refers to an attraction to underage girls in Japan, outside of Japan it generally refers to the genre of seijin manga wherein childlike female characters are depicted in an erotic manner. Lolicon's male equivalent, shotacon
is similarly used in the west to refer to the genre of manga and anime wherein pre-pubescent or pubescent male characters are depicted in a suggestive or erotic manner.
Some critics claim however that the lolicon
genre of seijin manga, wherein in child-like females are depicted in erotic manners, contributes to actual sexual abuse of children
, while others claim that there is no evidence for this, or that there is evidence to the contrary. Although several countries have attempted to criminalize lolicon's sexually explicit forms as a type of child pornography
, Canada
, Australia
, New Zealand
, Sweden
, the Philippines
and Ireland
are among the few to have actually done so.
. Despite the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956, various legal loopholes, liberal interpretations of the law, and loose enforcement have allowed the sex industry
to prosper and earn an estimated 2.3 trillion yen a year. The Anti-Prostitution Law however only makes prostituting oneself a crime whereas those who use services of a prostitute are immune from prosecution.
In Japan
, the "sex industry" is not synonym
ous with prostitution. Since Japanese law
defines prostitution as "intercourse with an unspecified person in exchange for payment," most sex clubs only offer non-coital services to remain legal. This has led Joan Sinclair, the author of Pink Box
, to observe that the sex industry in Japan ironically "offer[s] absolutely everything imaginable but sex."
Japan has a thriving fetish scene, particularly of the fetish BDSM
, to the point that game show-style videos have been created which center around them. Among unique sexual fetishes the Japanese have produced are tentacle erotica and the BDSM fetishes: Shibari, bukkake, omorashi
and tamakeri
.
Food play is known as wakamezake in Japan where its adherents invented nyotaimori
or the act of presenting food(typically sushi) on a nude female body. This act has since become a distinct symbol of Japanese food play. Largely due to western influence bakunyū or the attraction to very large breasts has become fetishized in Japan. Lolicon
in Japan refers to the sexual attraction to seemingly underage girls. Foot fetishism
is probably the most common fetish in Japan as it is elsewhere.
, which trained people in tying others up or restraining them with rope, was practiced and developed over long periods of time. Since being tied up with a knot
was considered extremely shameful, the art emphasized many techniques for restricting noble men and others of high rank without actually using any knots. With the advent of BDSM
in modern Japan however came Kinbaku an eroticized offspring of Hojōjutsu that focuses more on gentler holds and uses the historical shame of being tied up to further humiliate the bottom.
Today Hojōjutsu is not commonly practiced and is considered by some to be a dying art, but Shibari thrives in the BDSM
world and has profoundly influenced the bondage scene integrating itself into many western schools creating dozens of fusions of styles and being practiced by itself in BDSM communities worldwide. Kinbaku has introduced to the west ties and positions that specifically apply pressure on the bottom
s erogenous zones, asymmetric uses of patterns that give the bottom two uncomfortable positions to choose from, emphasizing simpler, more elegant ties over the elaborate, decorative knots of the west as well as use of specific katas (forms) and aesthetic rules.
was restricted by legal prohibition in 1873, but the provision was repealed only seven years later by the Penal Code of 1880, which relied on the Napoleonic Code
Confucian thought and the government's desire to appear "civilized" influenced the way that homosexuality was viewed by both the Japanese state and by the population at large during the Meiji period.
Despite recent trends that suggest a new level of tolerance, as well as open scenes in more cosmopolitan cities (such as Tokyo
and Osaka
), Japanese gay men and lesbian women often conceal their sexuality; with many even marrying persons of the opposite sex to avoid discrimination.
. In 2008 however, a law was passed allowing transgender
people who have gone through sex reassignment surgery
to change their sex on legal documents.
Consensual sex between adults of the same sex is legal, but some prefectures set the age of consent
for same-sex sexual activity higher than for opposite-sex sexual activity.
While civil rights laws do not extend to protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation, some governments have enacted such laws. The government of Tokyo
has passed laws that ban discrimination in employment based on sexual identity.
The major political parties express little public support for gay rights issues. Despite recommendations from the Council for Human Rights Promotion, the Diet has yet to take action on including sexual orientation in the country's civil rights code.
epidemic, Japan like most industrialized nations has not suffered the high rates of disease and death that characterize, for example, some nations in Africa
and South-East Asia
, etc. As of 2007 only around 100 people die a year in Japan due to AIDS. In 1992, the government of Japan
justified its continued refusal to allow oral contraceptive
s to be distributed in Japan on the fear that it would lead to reduced condom
use, and thus increase transmission of AIDS. As of 2004, condoms accounted for 80% of birth control
use in Japan, and this may explain Japan's comparably lower rates of AIDS.
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
did not adopt the Confucian view of marriage
Confucian view of marriage
To the Confucians, marriage is of important significance both in the family and in society. In the perspective of family, marriage can bring families of different surnames together, and continue the family life of the concerned clans. Therefore, only the benefits and demerits of the clans, instead...
. Monogamy
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
in marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
was not prized in Japan, and married men often sought pleasure from their courtesans, even though monogamy was very important in Chinese marriage
Chinese marriage
Traditional Chinese marriage is a ceremonial ritual within Chinese societies that involve a marriage established by pre-arrangement between families. Within Chinese culture, romantic love was allowed, and monogamy was the norm for most ordinary citizens....
. Prostitution in Japan
Prostitution in Japan
Prostitution in Japan has existed throughout the country's history.While the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956 states that "No person may either do prostitution or become the customer of it," various loopholes, liberal interpretations of the law, and loose enforcement have allowed the sex industry to...
has a long history, and became especially popular during the Japanese economic miracle, as evening entertainments were tax-deductible. Homosexuality in Japan
Homosexuality in Japan
Records of men who have sex with men in Japan date back to ancient times. Western scholars have identified these as evidence of homosexuality in Japan.There were few laws restricting sexual behavior in Japan before the early modern period...
was more common in ancient times
History of Japan
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
but taboo in modern times. Japanese pornography
Pornography in Japan
Pornography in Japan.-Before the 20th century:Shunga or pornographic wood-block pictures were printed with all imaginable situations. These often took the form of a book with sentences to describe verbal utterances of the partners, as well as to offer brief descriptions of a scene...
has a wide following worldwide and is translated and exported nearly everywhere due to its wide range of themes and media. Japan has a vibrant fetish
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
scene particularly in the larger cities that has influenced many fetish communities worldwide. Decreased sex drive
Sex Drive
Sex drive can refer to libido or sexual desire and may refer to:*"Sexdrive" , a song by Grace Jones*Sex Drive , a 2008 film*Sex Drive , a film by Jean-Daniel Cadinot, Stop Surprise in the original....
in the 21st century was blamed for the low Japanese birth rate
Birth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...
and declining growth of the Japanese population
Demographics of Japan
The demographic features of the population of Japan include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
.
Decreasing Sexual Activity
Sexual activity and interest has been declining in Japan for years, and is in part blamed for the Japan's decreasing birth rate. Studies and surveys have reported loss of sexual drive across several demographics, from adolescent men and women, to married couples. In 2006, a joint survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare and the Japan Family Planning AssociationJapan Family Planning Association
The Japan Family Planning Association , also known as the Family Planning Federation of Japan, is the Japanese affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and is the premier family planning organization in the country. It was founded in 1954, following the first annual World...
found that 34.6% of marriages in Japan could be classified as "sexless", which the Japan Society of Sexual Sciences states is engaging in sex less than once a month. A 2005 Sex Survey of 317,000 people in 41 countries conducted by Durex
Durex
Durex is the trademarked name for a range of condoms that used to be made by British company SSL International. This company was sold to Reckitt Benckiser in July 2010....
, the largest condom manufacturer in the world, found that the Japanese had the least sex in the world, at 45 times a year, with the second-to-last country of Singapore averaging 73 times a year, and the world average at 103 times a year. Additionally the survey reported only that only 24% of Japanese respondents said they were happy with their sex lives, compared to the global average of 44%. A 2008 and 2010 survey by the Japan Family Planning Association describes similar trends. The 2010 survey reported 36.1 percent of males between the ages of 16-19 responding that they had little to no interest in sex, in some cases even despising it, a figure that is more than double the 2008 surveys report of 17.5%. The 2010 survey also reported that 83.7% of men who turned 20 that year were not dating anyone, with 49.3% stating they had never had a girlfriend. 59% of female respondents of the same age group responded similarly, a 12% increase from the 2008 survey.
Pornography
Historically pornography in JapanPornography in Japan
Pornography in Japan.-Before the 20th century:Shunga or pornographic wood-block pictures were printed with all imaginable situations. These often took the form of a book with sentences to describe verbal utterances of the partners, as well as to offer brief descriptions of a scene...
may have begun as early as the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
as erotic artwork referred to as shunga
Shunga
' is a Japanese term for erotic art. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format. While rare, there are extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement...
that was typically done on woodblock prints. Between the 1920s and '30s in Japan there was a literary and artistic movement known as ero guro which focused on eroticism, sexual corruption and decadence. Softcore pornographic theatrical films known as pink films dominated the domestic cinema in Japan from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s.
In contemporary times Japanese pornography has a gained a worldwide following and is frequently translated and exported to other cultures because of its large spectrum of themes and media. Pornography has in recent times expanded into new mediums in Japan such as manga (hentai
Hentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
) and video games (eroge
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
) on top the more common film and historic mediums.
Shunga
Historically pornography in JapanPornography in Japan
Pornography in Japan.-Before the 20th century:Shunga or pornographic wood-block pictures were printed with all imaginable situations. These often took the form of a book with sentences to describe verbal utterances of the partners, as well as to offer brief descriptions of a scene...
may have begun as early as the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
as erotic artwork referred to as shunga
Shunga
' is a Japanese term for erotic art. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format. While rare, there are extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement...
that was typically done on woodblock prints. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...
, the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan. Although rare, there are however extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement. Translated literally, the Japanese word shunga means picture of spring; "spring" being a common euphemism for sex in Japan.
The ukiyo-e movement as a whole sought to express an idealisation of contemporary urban life and appeal to the new chonin
Chonin
was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period. The majority of chōnin were merchants, but some were craftsmen, as well. Nōmin were not considered chōnin...
class. Following the aesthetics of everyday life, Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
shunga varied widely in its depictions of sexuality. In the Edo period it was enjoyed by rich and poor, men and women, despite being out of favour with the shogunate. Almost all ukiyo-e artists made shunga at some point in their careers, and it did not detract from their prestige as artists. Classifying shunga as a kind of medieval pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
can be misleading in this respect.
Film
In the years since the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, eroticism had been gradually making its way into Japanese cinema. The first kiss to be seen in Japanese film—discreetly half-hidden by an umbrella—caused a national sensation in 1946. Foreign films throughout the 1950s introduced female nudity into international cinema, and were imported to Japan without problem. Nevertheless, until the early 1960s, graphic depictions of nudity and sex in Japanese film could only be seen in single-reel "stag films," made illegally by underground film producers such as those depicted in Imamura
Shohei Imamura
was a Japanese film director. Imamura was the first Japanese director to win two Palme d'Or awards.His eldest son Daisuke Tengan is also a script writer and film director, and worked on the screenplays to Imamura's filmsThe Eel , Dr...
's film The Pornographers
The Pornographers
The Pornographers is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura and based on a novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. Its original Japanese title is Erogotoshitachi yori Jinruigaku nyumon , which means 'An introduction to anthropology through the pornographers'. It tells the story of porn...
(1966).
Mainstream pornography wouldn't arrive in Japan until the advent of Pink film. Pink film, as it was referred to since the color pink carries erotic as well as feminine connotations with the Japanese as they associate it with a woman's vagina, was theatrical film which featured soft core, suggestive themes and later full-on nudity and sexual acts. The first wave of the Pink film in Japan was contemporary with the similar U.S. sexploitation film
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
genres, the "nudie-cuties" and "roughies". Nudity and sex officially entered Japanese cinema with Satoru Kobayashi
Satoru Kobayashi (director)
was a Japanese film director most famous for directing the first pink film, the type of softcore pornographic films that became the most prolific film genre in Japan during the 1960s and 1970s...
's controversial and popular independent production Flesh Market (Nikutai no Ichiba, 1962), which is considered the first true pink film. In the 1970s, some of Japan's major studios, facing the loss of their theatrical audience, took over the pink film. With their access to higher production-values and talent, some of these films became critical and popular successes.
When ownership of VCRs first became widespread in the early 1980s, AVs (adult videos) made their appearance and quickly became highly popular. As early as 1982 the AVs had already attained an approximately equal share of the adult entertainment market with theatrical erotic films. Since then the market for pink films has decreased tremendously with a majority of Japanese seeking pornography go to AVs.
Although the pink film genre has declined dramatically since the advent of AVs on VCR it is significant in that it paved the way for true pornography in Japan as well as for multiple other genres of pornography to be invented in Japanese film including: hamedori, roshutsu, and Japanese bondage
Japanese bondage
' means 'tight binding ' which literally means 'the beauty of tight binding'. Kinbaku is a Japanese style of bondage or BDSM which involves tying up the bottom using simple yet visually intricate patterns, usually with several pieces of thin rope–often jute and generally around 6 mm in...
. Other genres of pornography the Japanese have produced include: group sex(with gang bang as a sub-genre), lesbian, and fetishes (particularly foot fetishes). Lotion play
Lotion play
, also known as gookkake, gluekkake, ecto-porn, is a popular form of Japanese erotica and prostitution involving the use of copious amounts of sex lubricant which in the Japanese language is referred to as "lotion"...
is a popular element in Japanese pornography.
Hentai/Seijin Manga(+Anime)
The medium of erotica known to the west as hentaiHentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
was invented in Japan refers to erotic manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
(Japanese graphic novels) and anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
(Japanese animation). The word "hentai" though has a negative connotation to the Japanese and is commonly used to mean "sexually perverted
Perversion
Perversion is a concept describing those types of human behavior that are a serious deviation from what is considered to be orthodox or normal. Although it can refer to varying forms of deviation, it is most often used to describe sexual behaviors that are seen by an individual as abnormal,...
", with those in Japan more often referring to it as "seijin" or "adult" manga/anime.
The adult manga/anime medium carries its own distinct sub genres as well. Futanari
Futanari
Futanari is the Japanese word for androgyny or hermaphrodite. Until 1644, the appeal of sexually ambiguous, futanari characters portrayed by onnagata actors was a popular element in Japanese drama, and there is a flourishing futanari anime and manga genre in Japan today.- History in Japanese...
or the sexual attraction to androgynous people is an extensive sub genre of seijin manga. Bakunyū is the sub genre that features females with very large breasts. While lolicon
Lolicon
, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls or an individual with such an attraction...
refers to an attraction to underage girls in Japan, outside of Japan it generally refers to the genre of seijin manga wherein childlike female characters are depicted in an erotic manner. Lolicon's male equivalent, shotacon
Shotacon
, sometimes shortened to , is a Japanese slang portmanteau of the phrase and describes an attraction to young boys, or an individual with such an attraction. Outside Japan, the term is used less often with this meaning. It refers to a genre of manga and anime wherein pre-pubescent or pubescent...
is similarly used in the west to refer to the genre of manga and anime wherein pre-pubescent or pubescent male characters are depicted in a suggestive or erotic manner.
International reception
Japanese pornography has a gained a worldwide following and is frequently translated and exported to other cultures because of its large spectrum of themes and media.Some critics claim however that the lolicon
Lolicon
, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls or an individual with such an attraction...
genre of seijin manga, wherein in child-like females are depicted in erotic manners, contributes to actual sexual abuse of children
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, while others claim that there is no evidence for this, or that there is evidence to the contrary. Although several countries have attempted to criminalize lolicon's sexually explicit forms as a type of child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
are among the few to have actually done so.
Prostitution
Prostitution has existed in some form throughout Japan's historyHistory of Japan
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
. Despite the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956, various legal loopholes, liberal interpretations of the law, and loose enforcement have allowed the sex industry
Sex industry
The sex industry consists of businesses which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment...
to prosper and earn an estimated 2.3 trillion yen a year. The Anti-Prostitution Law however only makes prostituting oneself a crime whereas those who use services of a prostitute are immune from prosecution.
In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the "sex industry" is not synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
ous with prostitution. Since Japanese law
Japanese law
-Historical Developments:Pre-Modern History The early law of Japan was heavily influenced by Chinese law. Little is known about Japanese law prior to the seventh century, when the Ritsuryō was developed and codified. Before Chinese characters were transplanted and adopted by the Japanese, the...
defines prostitution as "intercourse with an unspecified person in exchange for payment," most sex clubs only offer non-coital services to remain legal. This has led Joan Sinclair, the author of Pink Box
Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs
Pink Box is a book by photojournalist Joan Sinclair, chronicling her exploration of the secret world of fuzoku in Japan.Sinclair was joined by contributor James Farrer, a sociologist, who attempted to "place[s] the images in the context of contemporary Japanese culture."The book is 192 pages long,...
, to observe that the sex industry in Japan ironically "offer[s] absolutely everything imaginable but sex."
Geisha
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. That being said, 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.Fetish Scene
Japan has a thriving fetish scene, particularly of the fetish BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
, to the point that game show-style videos have been created which center around them. Among unique sexual fetishes the Japanese have produced are tentacle erotica and the BDSM fetishes: Shibari, bukkake, omorashi
Omorashi
is a fetish subculture recognized predominantly in Japan, in which participants experience arousal from having a full bladder or a sexual attraction to someone else experiencing the feeling of a full urinary bladder. Outside of Japan, it is not usually identified separately from urolagnia , though...
and tamakeri
Tamakeri
Tamakeri is a sexual fetish and sub-genre in which a female kicks, knees, punches, grabs or twists a man's testicles. This act is shown in some Japanese horror films, such as Busted Balls....
.
Food play is known as wakamezake in Japan where its adherents invented nyotaimori
Nyotaimori
Nyotaimori , often referred to as "body sushi," is the practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the body of a woman, typically naked. Nantaimori refers to the same practice using a male model...
or the act of presenting food(typically sushi) on a nude female body. This act has since become a distinct symbol of Japanese food play. Largely due to western influence bakunyū or the attraction to very large breasts has become fetishized in Japan. Lolicon
Lolicon
, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls or an individual with such an attraction...
in Japan refers to the sexual attraction to seemingly underage girls. Foot fetishism
Foot fetishism
Foot fetishism, foot partialism, foot worship, or podophilia is a pronounced sexual interest in feet. It is the most common form of sexual preference for otherwise non-sexual objects or body parts.-Characteristics:...
is probably the most common fetish in Japan as it is elsewhere.
Shibari/Kinbaku
Shibari as it is typically referred to in the west is known as Kinbaku (also Sokubaku) in Japanese and refers to the erotic art of tying people up. Originally in Japanese history the martial art HojōjutsuHojojutsu
Hojōjutsu or Nawajutsu, is the traditional Japanese martial art of restraining a person using cord or rope.Encompassing many different materials, techniques and methods from many different schools, Hojojutsu is a quintessentially Japanese art that is a unique product of Japanese history and...
, which trained people in tying others up or restraining them with rope, was practiced and developed over long periods of time. Since being tied up with a knot
Knot
A knot is a method of fastening or securing linear material such as rope by tying or interweaving. It may consist of a length of one or several segments of rope, string, webbing, twine, strap, or even chain interwoven such that the line can bind to itself or to some other object—the "load"...
was considered extremely shameful, the art emphasized many techniques for restricting noble men and others of high rank without actually using any knots. With the advent of BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
in modern Japan however came Kinbaku an eroticized offspring of Hojōjutsu that focuses more on gentler holds and uses the historical shame of being tied up to further humiliate the bottom.
Today Hojōjutsu is not commonly practiced and is considered by some to be a dying art, but Shibari thrives in the BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
world and has profoundly influenced the bondage scene integrating itself into many western schools creating dozens of fusions of styles and being practiced by itself in BDSM communities worldwide. Kinbaku has introduced to the west ties and positions that specifically apply pressure on the bottom
Bottom (BDSM)
In BDSM, a bottom or submissive is the partner in a BDSM relationship or a BDSM scene who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant....
s erogenous zones, asymmetric uses of patterns that give the bottom two uncomfortable positions to choose from, emphasizing simpler, more elegant ties over the elaborate, decorative knots of the west as well as use of specific katas (forms) and aesthetic rules.
LGBT
SodomySodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
was restricted by legal prohibition in 1873, but the provision was repealed only seven years later by the Penal Code of 1880, which relied on the Napoleonic Code
Napoleonic code
The Napoleonic Code — or Code Napoléon — is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...
Confucian thought and the government's desire to appear "civilized" influenced the way that homosexuality was viewed by both the Japanese state and by the population at large during the Meiji period.
Despite recent trends that suggest a new level of tolerance, as well as open scenes in more cosmopolitan cities (such as Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
), Japanese gay men and lesbian women often conceal their sexuality; with many even marrying persons of the opposite sex to avoid discrimination.
Politics and law
Japan has no laws against homosexual activity, and has some legal protections for gay individuals, but the Japanese government does not recognize same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. In 2008 however, a law was passed allowing transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
people who have gone through sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
to change their sex on legal documents.
Consensual sex between adults of the same sex is legal, but some prefectures set the age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
for same-sex sexual activity higher than for opposite-sex sexual activity.
While civil rights laws do not extend to protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation, some governments have enacted such laws. The government of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
has passed laws that ban discrimination in employment based on sexual identity.
The major political parties express little public support for gay rights issues. Despite recommendations from the Council for Human Rights Promotion, the Diet has yet to take action on including sexual orientation in the country's civil rights code.
AIDS, other STDs, and contraceptives
In the years since people first became aware of the AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
epidemic, Japan like most industrialized nations has not suffered the high rates of disease and death that characterize, for example, some nations in Africa
HIV/AIDS in Africa
HIV/AIDS is a major public health concern and cause of death in Africa. Although Africa is home to about 14.5% of the world's population, it is estimated to be home to 67% of all people living with HIV and to 72% of all AIDS deaths in 2009.-Overview:...
and South-East Asia
HIV/AIDS in Asia
In 2008, 4.7 million people in Asia were living with HIV according to the United Nations. The UN believes that Asia’s epidemic peaked in the mid-1990s, and annual HIV incidence has subsequently declined by more than half...
, etc. As of 2007 only around 100 people die a year in Japan due to AIDS. In 1992, the government of Japan
Government of Japan
The government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the 1947 constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected...
justified its continued refusal to allow oral contraceptive
Oral contraceptive
The combined oral contraceptive pill , often referred to as the birth-control pill or colloquially as "the Pill", is a birth control method that includes a combination of an estrogen and a progestin . When taken by mouth every day, these pills inhibit female fertility...
s to be distributed in Japan on the fear that it would lead to reduced condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
use, and thus increase transmission of AIDS. As of 2004, condoms accounted for 80% of birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
use in Japan, and this may explain Japan's comparably lower rates of AIDS.