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. Though these relations had existed in Japan for millennia, they became most apparent to scholars during the Tokugawa (or Edo) period. Historical practices identified by scholars as homosexual include shudō (衆道), wakashudō (若衆道) and nanshoku (男色).

The Japanese term nanshoku (男色, which can also be read as danshoku) is the Japanese reading of the same characters in Chinese, which literally mean "male colors". The character 色 (lit. 'color') has the added meaning of "lust" in both China and Japan. This term was widely used to refer to some kind of male-to-male sex in a pre-modern era of Japan. The term shudō (衆道, abbreviated from wakashudō 若衆道, "the way of adolescent boys") is also used, especially in older works.

During the Meiji period nanshoku started to become discouraged due to the rise of sexology within Japan and the process of westernization. However the Chinese mocked and insulted Puyi and the Japanese as homosexuals and presented it as proof of their perversion and being uncivilized. The only time homosexual sodomy has been banned in Japan was for short time for 8 years in 1872-1880 due to western influence.

Modern terms for homosexuals include dōseiaisha (同性愛者, literally "same-sex-love person"), okama (お釜, "kettle"/"cauldron", slang interchangeably used for gay men, drag queens, gender nonconforming men and transgender women), gei (ゲイ, gay), homo (ホモ) or homosekusharu (ホモセクシャル, "homosexual"), onabe (お鍋, "pot"/"pan", slang for "gay women"), bian (ビアン)/rezu (レズ) and rezubian (レズビアン, "lesbian").