I’ve been wondering about this for while now. I’ve seen alot of conflicting sources about this and was wondering if anyone could help me clear it up with anything concrete. I’m just curious, by the way. I’ve seen different shows on the same channel say differing things, and have been wondering for a good chunk of time. For the record, I’m not a homophobe or nothing, in case somebody wants to draw that conclusion.
There were quite a few Samurai - I’m sure you sexual preference wasn’t a deciding factor. At least not for all of them.
I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Sorry.
What SftD is trying to say is that in a large enough group of human beings you are sure to get all variations of sexual orientation.
Grim
IIRC, the Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai has a section that says something to the effect that homosexuality is perfectly acceptable.
Okay. My main confusion was that on one show it said that Samurai had wives. On another show it said that they believed true love was only between men. They made it sound universal, so I got a little confused. I think this helps.
The answer to your question is “yes”.
Last year there was a good article on the subject in Kansai Time Out (an English-language magazine in the greater Osaka area). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any trace of it online.
I did find this article though.
The main point to remember from the above article is that homosexuality in feudal Japan was very much like that in ancient Greece.
If the subject interests you, I recommend the movie Gohatto (Taboo) by the great Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima.
http://www.chireader.com/movies/archives/2001/0101/010119.html
http://www.examiner.com/ex_files/default.jsp?story=X0302TABOO0
I think it’s important to mention that this is a topic virtually no one talks about around here.
In the world of the salary-man, which is in many was the modern incarnation of the samurai society, homosexuality is very much frowned upon. Which is not to say, though, that Japan is more of a nest of homophobia than other places in the world. It’s just that in this regard, there’s been a distinct westernization of values.
Hope this helped…
Okay. That is EXACTLY what I was looking for. They all said I was wrong! HAHAHA! Thanks alot, man.
Thank you, that’s exactly what I was trying to say.
Also, even if you use another male for sexual release, it doesn’t make you homosexual. I think… 
I fail to see the conflict here.
In many parts of the world the kind of true-love we lament in the west and assume is between sexual partners is completely asexual or platonic. In many cultures while men and women have sex, they don’t have much of a real relationship beyond sex and caring for offspring.
Samurai may well have encouraged homosexuality, but sex and love are not conjoined concepts.
As zen101 pointed out, there’s no conflict here. Especially if you consider that even in today’s Japan marriage is often separated from true love. It’s only been in the last century that love marriages have become common.