View source for (Boylove Documentary Sourcebook) - A Reversal of Conventional Pederastic Pursuit in a Chapter of 'The Life of an Amorous Man' by Ihara Saikaku

[[File:Nishikawa Sukenobu - Man and boy kiss in front of a mirror (left panel). Part of a double-page Japanese woodblock-printed illustration from Nanshoku Yamaji no Tsuyu by Nankai no Sanjin, early 18th century.jpg|thumb|center|Boy plucking out the facial hair of man with a pair of tweezers is kissed by him in front of a mirror (left panel). Part of a double-page Japanese woodblock-printed illustration by Nishikawa Sukenobu, from <i>[[Nanshoku]] Dew on a Mountain Path</i> (男色山路露 <i>Nanshoku Yamaji no Tsuyu</i>, Early 18th Century) by Nankai no Sanjin.]] 


From "[[Samurai]] Lovers, 'Samurai Beasts': Warriors and Commoners in Ihara Saikaku's <i>Way of the Warrior</i> Tales" by David Gundry, in <i>Japanese Studies</i>, Vol. 35, No. 2 (September 2015). Footnotes omitted.

<b>Note:</b> <i>Saikaku's novel was written at a time when [[Japan]] followed the East Asian age reckoning, by which people are born at the age of one, i.e. the first year of lifetime using an ordinal numeral (instead of "zero" using a cardinal numeral), and on Chinese New Year or New Year's Day one year is added to their age. Since age is incremented at the beginning of the lunar or solar year, rather than on the anniversary of a birthday, people may be one or two years older in Asian reckoning than in the international age system.</i><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_reckoning</ref>

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In a chapter missing from the abridged Kengi Hamada translation of <i>Amorous Man</i> (1963), at the tender age of ten the fantastically precocious Yonosuke reverses the reigning protocol of erotic pursuit by seducing an adult male into becoming his <i>nenja</i>. In a chapter set two decades later, the narrator reveals that Yonosuke’s erstwhile lover is a samurai, and the two tearfully reunite as the closest of friends, well after Yonosuke’s attainment of adulthood has rendered the sexual side of their relationship obsolete.
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[[File:Attributed to Okumura Masanobu - Homoerotic scene (right panel). Part of a double-page shunga woodblock-printed illustration, ca. 1750.png|thumb|center|[[Homoerotic (dictionary)|Homoerotic]] scene: A <i>nenja</i> embraces a <i>[[wakashū]]</i> from behind while [[Anal intercourse|penetrating]] him (right panel). Part of a double-page <i>shunga</i> woodblock-printed illustration attributed to Okumura Masanobu, ca. 1750.]] 

==References==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[The Great Mirror of Male Love (book)]]
*[[Adult friend (dictionary)]]
*[[Age of attraction (dictionary)]]
*[[Bishōnen]]
*[[Boylove]]
*[[Chigo monogatari]]
*[[Ephebophilia]]
*[[Historical boylove relationships in Japan]]
*[[Loved boy (dictionary)]]
*[[Manga and anime]]
*[[Minor-attracted person (dictionary)]]
*[[Pederasty]]
*[[Pedophilia]]
*[[Shōnen]]
*[[Young friend (dictionary)]]

==External Links==
*[https://greek-love.com/far-east/japan/the-stories-of-ihara-saikaku/amorous-man-saikaku-pederasty <i>THE LIFE OF AN AMOROUS MAN</i> BY SAIKAKU IHARA (Greek Love Through the Ages)]
*[https://greek-love.com/far-east/japan/the-age-of-the-loved-boy-in-japan-pederasty THE AGE OF THE LOVED BOY IN TRADITIONAL JAPAN (Greek Love Through the Ages)]

[[Category:Boylove Documentary Sourcebook]]
[[Category:Japanese literature]]
[[Category:Boylove in literature]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]
[[Category:LGBT articles]]