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Title: Queer Japan: Personal Stories of Japanese Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals by Barbara Summerhawk, Chiron McMahill, Darren McDonald ISBN: 1-892281-00-7 Publisher: New Victoria Publishers Pub. Date: 01 June, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Voice for those who have been discouraged from speaking
Comment: I came across this book three years ago, when I first arrived in Japan. I was reading it just as I was coming to terms with my own homosexuality. It contributed to the opening of my mind, and helped me find courage to come out and start living my life to the fullest.
Queer Japan was, at first, my only way of knowing about Japanese attitudes toward alternative lifestyles, and about Japanese gays and lesbians themselves. Since the subject is never discussed (in either a good or bad light) at work or in the media here, the book helped me realize that there were indeed a lot of Japanese people out there in situations similar to mine.
The book provides an extremely accurate portrait of how homosexuality is viewed in Japan, but that's not really the point. The point is that it allows so many individual gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual Japanese people to tell their stories -- something they are all too often forbidden to talk about.
Rating: 5
Summary: A very interesting and accurate glimpse of Japan
Comment: I have lived in Japan for more than twenty years and I was very pleased to read this book. Though I am not gay I have many Japanese and non Japanese friends who are, and I have listened over the years to their stories. This book is a perfect example of what the gay experience is like here in Japan. It's very honest and moving. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Japanese sub culture.
Rating: 4
Summary: Expanding the Understanding of Japan
Comment: People will stumble upon this book, I think, from their interest in other areas, gay and lesbian studies, or Japanese culture for example. The area of gay and lesbian studies in Japan is still so new and relatively small compared to the United States, for example, that as a discourse it does not quite have the independence and stature to attract wide notice or sympathy.
That said, this is an excellent introductory book, one-of-a-kind, in fact, of Queer Japan. In every story, translated by a trio of non-Japanese academics who have spent several years apiece in Japan and are active in gay-lesbian-bisexual-transexual groups, the author is awash with gratitude, to be allowed finally to speak in one's own voice, of the struggles, pain, and yes, the joys experienced. In such an oppressive culture, where candid, direct speech is not encouraged, or even actively discouraged as being childish and selfish, these essays are all the more remarkable.
My only complaint, which prevented me from giving 5 stars to the book, is technical: there are numerous grammatical errors, as well as careless word use. Sorry, I was an English major in college. I was trained to spot misuse of transitive/intransitive verbs, for example. It makes me sad that such errors suggest to me a lack of attention on the part of the publisher; in other words, this makes me feel that those involved in editing the book did not take as much pride in their own book as their subjects, which conflicts with the heartfelt call for those in the book, and others like them who struggle in Japan, to take pride in themselves, their essential beings.
In short, an excellent, though technically flawed book, for those looking to expand their understanding of modern Japan.
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Title: Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities by Mark J. McLelland ISBN: 0700714251 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 12 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Gay Tales of the Samurai by E. Powys Mathers, Henry M. Christman, Ihara Saikaku ISBN: 1886360006 Publisher: Alamo Square Distributors Pub. Date: 01 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Love of the Samurai: A Thousand Years of Japanese Homosexuality by Tsuneo Watanabe, Jun'Ichi Iwata ISBN: 0854491155 Publisher: Gay Men's Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950 by Gregory M. Pflugfelder ISBN: 0520209095 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title: Partings at Dawn: An Anthology of Japanese Gay Literature by Stephen D. Miller ISBN: 0940567180 Publisher: Gay Sunshine Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1996 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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