Sexuality in Japan developed separately from that of mainland Asia, as Japan did not adopt the Confucian view of marriage, in which chastity is highly valued. Monogamy in marriage is often thought to be less important in Japan, and sometimes married men may seek pleasure from courtesans. Prostitution in Japan has a long history, and became especially popular during the Japanese economic miracle, as evening entertainments were tax-deductible. Decreased sex drive in the 21st century has been blamed for the low Japanese birth rate and declining growth of the Japanese population.
Pornography
ArguablyPornography or Erotic Art?, Guardian Nov 11, 2015 mass-produced pornography in Japan may have begun as early as the Edo period (1603–1868), as erotic artwork referred to as shunga that was typically produced with woodblock prints in the 1,000's. These erotic images were declared obscene and banned in 1772 by the Tokugawa shogunate, although they continued to be produced underground in smaller numbers. Between the 1920s and 1930s in Japan there was a literary and artistic movement known as ero guro which focused on eroticism, sexual corruption and decadence.Silverberg, Miriam Rom. "By Way of a Preface: Defining Erotic Grotesque Nonsense" . Galley copy of the preface for Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times. December 12, 2005. 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 gained a worldwide following and is frequently translated and exported to other cultures because of its large spectrum of themes and media. Pornography in Japan has in recent times expanded into new mediums such as video games (eroge) manga and animation (hentai) in addition to the more common film and historic mediums.
A 2020 survey by the cabinet office found that a number of Japanese women said they had been forced into appearing in pornographic films by unscrupulous production companies. Some had signed “modelling” contracts but were later pressured into posing nude or having sex on camera.
Shunga
Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan. Although scarce, 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 chōnin 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.
Film
In the years since the end of World War II, eroticism has gradually made 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 did not arrive in Japan until the advent of Pink film. Pink film 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.Weisser, p.21. 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.Weisser, p.29. Since then the market for pink films has decreased tremendously and a majority of Japanese seeking pornography go to AVs.
Although the pink film genre has declined dramatically since the advent of AVs on VCR the genre is significant in that it paved the way for true pornography in Japan as well as for multiple other genres of Japanese pornographic film including: hamedori, roshutsu, and Japanese bondage. Other Japanese pornography genres include: group sex (with gang bang as a subgenre), lesbian, and fetishes (particularly foot fetishes). Lotion play is a popular element in Japanese pornography.Talmadge, Eric. Getting Wet: Adventures in the Japanese Bath. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2006, p. 187, 190–191. .Sinclair, Joan. Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2006, p. 112–113. .
Hentai and seijin manga (adult cartoons)
The genre of erotica known to the West as hentai (erotic cartoons or drawings) was invented in Japan; They are used in erotic manga (Japanese comic books, graphic novels) and anime (Japanese animation). The word "hentai" has a negative connotation in Japanese and usually means "sexually perverted","A Short History of 'Hentai'", by Mark McLelland, Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, Issue 12, January 2006. Footnoted HTML version. with those in Japan more often referring to hentai as "seijin" or "adult" manga/anime.
The adult manga/anime medium carries its own distinct subgenres as well. Futanari or sexual attraction to androgynous people is an extensive subgenre of seijin manga. Bakunyū is the subgenre that features females with very large breasts. In Japan lolicon refers to an attraction to underage girls. Outside Japan lolicon 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 in which pre-pubescent or pubescent male characters are depicted in a suggestive or erotic manner.
International reception
Japanese pornography has gained a worldwide following and is frequently translated and exported to other cultures because of its large spectrum of themes and media.
However, critics state that the lolicon genre of seijin manga, wherein childlike females are depicted in an erotic way, contributes to sexual abuse of children. Several countries have attempted to criminalize lolicon's sexually explicit forms as a type of child pornography, Canada, Australia,McLelland, Mark. The World of Yaoi: The Internet, Censorship and the Global “Boys’ Love” Fandom The Australian Feminist Law Journal, 2005. New Zealand, Sweden, the Philippines and Ireland are among those that have done so.
Prostitution
Prostitution has existed in some form throughout Japan's history. 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. Notably, the Anti-Prostitution Law makes prostituting oneself a crime whereas those who use the services of a prostitute are immune from prosecution.
In Japan, the "sex industry" is not synonymous with prostitution. Because Japanese law defines prostitution as "intercourse with an unspecified person in exchange for payment," in order to remain legal, most sex clubs offer only non-coital services.Japan Times 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."Pink Box Japan
Geisha
A frequent focus of misconceptions in regard to Japanese sexuality is the institution of the geisha. Rather than a prostitute, a geisha was a woman trained in arts such as music and cultured conversation, who was available for non-sexual interactions with her male clientele. Geisha differed from their patrons' wives because, except for the geisha, women were ordinarily not prepared for activity other than household duties. This social limitation was imposed on the majority of women in traditional society and produced a diminution in the pursuits that women could enjoy. This limitation also impacted 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, especially BDSM fetishes. Indeed, Japanese game show-style videos have been created which center around the use of fetishes.www.kokoro-soft.com Among the 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, which involves nyotaimori, the act of presenting food (typically sushi) on a nude female body. This act has become an icon of Japanese food play. Largely due to Western influence, the attraction to very large breasts (bakunyū) has emerged as a fetish in Japan. Lolicon refers to the sexual attraction to seemingly underage girls.
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 Hojōjutsu, which trained people in tying others up or restraining them with rope, was practiced and developed over long periods of time. Because 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. However, with the advent of BDSM in modern Japan came an eroticized offspring of Hojōjutsu, called kinbaku, 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.
Homosexuality