Description
Book SynopsisStories of homosexual love affairs between samurai men and boys and between young kabuki actors and their patrons held broad appeal in pre-modern Japanese culture. An independent popular writer, Saikaku wrote "Nanshoku Okagami" in 1687 with the intention of extending his readership.
Trade Review"A welcome opportunity for wider comparison of the literary traditions and sexual conventions of Japanese and Euro-American cultures."—
Journal of Japanese StudiesTable of ContentsIntroduction Preface Part I: 1. Love: the contest between two forces 2. The ABCs of boy love 3. Within the fence: pine, maple, and a willow waist 4. Love letter sent in a sea bass 5. Implicated by his diamond crest Part II: 6. A sword his only memento 7. Though bearing an umbrella, he was rained upon 8. His head shaved on the path of dreams 9. Aloeswood boy of the east 10. Nightingale in the snow Part III: 11. Grudge provoked by a sedge hat 12. Tortured to death with snow on his sleeve 13. The sword that survived love's flames 14. The sickbed no medicine could cure 15. He fell in love when the mountain rose was in bloom Part IV: 16. Drowned by love in winecups of pearly nautilus shells 17. The boy who sacrificed his life in the robes of his lover 18. They waited three years to die 19. Two old cherry trees still in bloom 20. Handsome youths having fun cause trouble for a temple Part V. 21. Tears in a paper shop 22. He pleaded for his life at Mitsudara Hachiman 23. Love's flame kindled by a flint seller 24. Visiting from Edo, suddenly a monk 25. Votive picture of Kichiya riding a horse Part VI: 26. A huge winecup overflowing with love 27. Kozakura's figure: grafted branches of a cherry tree 28. The man who resented another's shouts 29. A secret visit leads to the wrong bed 30. A terrible shame he never performed in the capital Part VII: 31. Fireflies also work their asses at night 32. An onnagata's tosa diary 33. An unworn robe to remember him by 34. Bamboo clappers strike the hateful number 35. Nails hammered into an amateur painting Part VIII: 36. A verse sung by a goblin with a beautiful voice 37. Siamese roosters and the reluctant farewell 38. Loved by a man in a box 39. The Koyama barrier keeper 40. Who wears the incense graph dyed in her heart? Notes English translations of Ihara Saikaku Index.
