Gay Tales of the Samurai by Saikaku Ihara, translated by E. Powys Mathers.
Gay Tales of the Samurai was written by the renowned author Saikaku Ihara (1642-1693) who recounted many tales of Samurai life from this period. The tales are said to be real accounts from life, and certainly many of them, particularly the last, read more like gossip than a constructed story.
To understand this book, you have to understand how different the world it grew from was. To quote Henry M. Christman in the introduction:
The year was 1687.
In England, King James II was on the throne, shortly to be overthrown by William and Mary. The rising young author was Daniel Defoe, whose famous work was to be The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
In America, a handful of English colonies were clinging precariously to the Atlantic coastline. William Penn had just concluded a peace treaty with the Indians.
In Japan a ten-volume illustrated work entitledGlorious Tales of Homosexuality was published.
Japan had long had a tradition of homosexual love. As with the Greeks before them, if featured love between youths, past puberty, but before becoming official men, and their older lovers. While there was a definite physical component to the romances, they were viewed to be for the purpose of instructing the young men in matters of honor and excellence. Bravery and Ardor went hand in hand in the warrior society.
Another component of these romances was the very nature of their impermanence. Just as the cherry blossom bursts forth, exquisitely beautiful, more so because its beauty lasts three days and fades, so is the beauty of youth. A young man, when he cut his bangs (the sign of being under the age of Adulthood, might not be pursued any longer, and will in fact, join the ranks of the pursuers.
That said, there are many tales that do not focus on the cult of youth, but are among men of similar age.
There was no stigma associated with homosexuality. Men married, had children, and continued to pursue these affairs of the heart amongst themselves. In fact, it was accorded a purer love because it was unencumbered by the motivations of producing heirs, dowries, or political alliance.
The first section of the book is called Samurai Gay Love Defeated. It contains four tales of doomed love with the charming and very self-explanatory titles, The Tragic Love of Two Enemies, the equally cheerful All Comrade-Lovers Die by Hara-Kiri. The third (my favorite) is He Died to Save His Lover and the last is very graphically named He Followed His Friend Into the Otherworld, After Torturing Him To Death. These tales tend to be cautionary tales; this is what happens when you let greed or jealousy rule you. The Japanese love a good tragic ending much more than a happy one.
The second section is called Samurai Gay Love Stalemated. These tales often play out how honor and duty can thwart the course of love. The first is called Love Vowed to the Dead. This cheerful little tale shows one of the sadder aspects of a system built to end; A youth loved his lover very much, but he fell ill. As he lay dieing, the samurai remembered his own first lover, and asked his beautiful boyfriend to seek out the man who had initiated him into the ways of love, and be his lover, a gift from him, the dieing man. Well, the youth, honorable and true did so, even though the mad was elderly, and not attractive, because he had loved the Samurai so. A little sad, a little creepy, but very poignant and sweet.
The second tale is called A Love Long Concealed. about two lovers who had to sacrifice their love for their duty to their lord, the third A Samurai Becomes a Beggar Through Love of a Page a cautionary tale of the hideous power of obsession, and the last, a very sweet tale of the constancy of love called, An Actor loved his Patron, even as a Flint Seller.
The last section is Part Three: Samurai Gay Love Victorious. Its first story is entitled The Soul of a Young Man Smitten With Love Follows His Lover on a Journey. This is a strange little yarn about a Lord in love with incense and the druggists son, in love with the Lord. He loves this man of elegance so fiercely, that he falls quite ill and his family fears for his life. But then he rallies enough to say that on the morrow, his true love would pass the shop, and his family must bring him here to his deathbed.
And this was done, and the youth immediately recovered. His soul, so moved by the Lord had followed him, leaving the youth weak. It had watched him, and lain with him, and even slipped a piece of his favorite incense, the one his father would not sell for love of him, into the lord’s sleeve. It was this mystery that had drawn the Lord back to the shop, and he took the Druggists son for his lover, and they were very happy.
The second tale is entitled At Last Rewarded for His Constancy. This is my favorite of the whole book. It reads like a parsed down Count of Monte Christo. The Third is another favorite; He Rids Himself of His Foes With The Help of His Lover. This story is of intrigue and bloodshed; of course I love it. The last isn’t really even a story, but reminds me of gossip, which lends credence to his claims of authenticity. It is called They Loved Each Other Even to Extreme Old Age. and features two old samurai, grown into extreme old age, bewailing the ravages of time upon their bodies, and basically being old curmudgeons. It’s very sweet.
These tales read much like fairy tales; mostly plot, a little fleshed out. They are a product of another age, another culture. Much like reading Beowulf will not slake the thirst for violence of the average video game junkie, these are not romances, or porn, or any other sub genre of the Lavender Quill. But if you accept them for what they are, they are a fascinating glimpse into another era, when men walked with two swords and were not afraid to follow their hearts.
The Lavender Quill
Gay Non-Fiction
Is It a Choice?
The Martian Child
What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality
Gay Tales of the Samurai
Gay Fiction.
Son of a Witch
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Raised by Wolves: Brethern
Raised by Wolves: Matelots
Raised by Wolves: Treasure
Raised by Wolves: Wolves
Master of Seacliff
Ransom
Forbidden Colours
Lord John and the Private Matter
Lord John and the Hand of Devils
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
Comics and Graphic Novels
Side by Side
Fogtown
Black Wade: The Wild Side of Love
The Authority: Prime
Hellblazer: Highwater
Midnighter: Anthem
Midnighter: Killing Machine
Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather
Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather (part 2)
Check out my reviews of all things Japanese:
My Neighbor Totoro
Across the Nightingale Floor
Grass For His Pillow
Brilliance of the Moon
Onmyoji II
Onmyoji
The Hidden Fortress
Hellboy: Storm of Swords
Vexille
Sanjuro
The Hidden Blade
Yaji & Kita: Midnight Pilgrims
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Gay Tales of the Samurai
Howl's Moving Castle
Ghost Dog
Memoirs of a Geisha (Book)
Memoirs of Geisha (Movie)
The Last Samurai
The Sword that Cut the Burning Grass
Taboo
Forbidden Colors
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