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The Great Mirror of Male Love
A Stanford University Press classic.
371 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1687
33 people are currently reading
1180 people want to read
About the author
Saikaku Ihara
103 books61 followersSaikaku Ihara (井原 西鶴) was a Japanese poet and creator of the "floating world" genre of Japanese prose (ukiyo-zōshi).
Born the son of the wealthy merchant Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五) in Osaka, he first studied haikai poetry under Matsunaga Teitoku, and later studied under Nishiyama Sōin of the Danrin School of poetry, which emphasized comic linked verse. Scholars have described numerous extraordinary feats of solo haikai composition at one sitting; most famously, over the course of a single day and night in 1677, Saikaku is reported to have composed at least 16,000 haikai stanzas, with some rumors placing the number at over 23,500 stanzas.
Later in life he began writing racy accounts of the financial and amorous affairs of the merchant class and the demimonde. These stories catered to the whims of the newly prominent merchant class, whose tastes of entertainment leaned toward the arts and pleasure districts.
Born the son of the wealthy merchant Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五) in Osaka, he first studied haikai poetry under Matsunaga Teitoku, and later studied under Nishiyama Sōin of the Danrin School of poetry, which emphasized comic linked verse. Scholars have described numerous extraordinary feats of solo haikai composition at one sitting; most famously, over the course of a single day and night in 1677, Saikaku is reported to have composed at least 16,000 haikai stanzas, with some rumors placing the number at over 23,500 stanzas.
Later in life he began writing racy accounts of the financial and amorous affairs of the merchant class and the demimonde. These stories catered to the whims of the newly prominent merchant class, whose tastes of entertainment leaned toward the arts and pleasure districts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 8, 2021
Heard about this book because it was referenced in Samurai Champloo. A very informative read about male-male affection, pederasty, and prostitution in the Edo era Japan. It's interesting how similar these relationships were to those of the ancient Greeks. Some of these stories were quite amusing, and some were even quite moving.
Unfortunately, many of the stories are too similar in style, structure, and content, causing some to feel rehashed and flat. But it's worth slogging through the mediocre stories (they're short) to read the good ones. And even then, the mediocre stories still reveal a lot about the culture/topic and contain some noteworthy moments. Schalow's introduction alone is worth the read. Some of my favorite stories:
1:1 Love: The Contest Between Two Forces
1:2 The ABCs of Boy Love
2:2 Though Bearing an Umbrella, He Was Rained Upon
2:3 His Head Shaved on the Path of Dreams
4:3 They Waited Three Years to Die
4:4 Two Old Cherry Trees Still In Bloom (Best one in the collection)
6:2 Kozakura's Figure: Grafted Branches of a Cherry Tree
8:3 Loved By A Man In A Box
Unfortunately, many of the stories are too similar in style, structure, and content, causing some to feel rehashed and flat. But it's worth slogging through the mediocre stories (they're short) to read the good ones. And even then, the mediocre stories still reveal a lot about the culture/topic and contain some noteworthy moments. Schalow's introduction alone is worth the read. Some of my favorite stories:
1:1 Love: The Contest Between Two Forces
1:2 The ABCs of Boy Love
2:2 Though Bearing an Umbrella, He Was Rained Upon
2:3 His Head Shaved on the Path of Dreams
4:3 They Waited Three Years to Die
4:4 Two Old Cherry Trees Still In Bloom (Best one in the collection)
6:2 Kozakura's Figure: Grafted Branches of a Cherry Tree
8:3 Loved By A Man In A Box
June 21, 2025
tình trai thượng đẳng bonus căm thù phụ nữ =))) kiểu cũng đọc hay nghe kể kha khá chuyện bệnh hoạn nên nghĩ mình cũng ngon lành lắm mà đọc cái cuốn này lúc nào cũng trong tình trạng cái đếu gì vậy =)))) công sức bao năm giữ mặt bình thản giờ đúng tan nát trong mấy ngày đọc cuốn này =)))
người bạn bệnh hoạn giới thiệu là có cuốn samurai yêu sư thầy mình đã what? cho mượn liền đi nhưng thật sự là cuộc đời này không thể ngờ trước được cái gì.
Thật sự cũng không biết lấy ví dụ sao vì 40 truyện là 40 kiểu không thể tả nổi. Samurai thì từ lúc gặp mặt chén nhau tới mổ bụng chắc chỉ trong 1 buổi. Em đứng đầu nguồn phỉ nước miếng thì anh dưới này phải vội vớt nước uống trọn không nó phí =)) sư thầy thì bán hết cả thư pháp cổ với chặt hết cây rừng để bao trai, thằng nào bình thường kiêu thì lúc sa cơ cả chùa xúm vào rape cho chừa nha =)) mà trai chỉ chơi trai từ 12 tới 18 vượt quá là không thèm nha. Lỡ nhầm bé gái là bé trai thì ghê tởm khạc nhổ không ngừng nha =)) rồi tâm linh các thứ thật sự nhiều chuyện không thể tưởng tượng nổi á.
Ông tác giả này lấy vợ đẻ đống con xong vợ chết u uất chán quá đi tu xong kể là đã chơi 1.000 trai trẻ, nhiều em là miễn cưỡng nên tôi làm kiểu sớ cầu an cho các em đó nha. Hồi xưa nghe chuyện song tu thấy rợn người rồi nhưng ít ra cái đó cũng giấu với bên ngoài còn phái Chân tông của Kobo Daishi Nhật Bản này thì người cha rất tự hào được cúng con trai cho thầy chùa chơi nha =)) không ngấm nổi cái quan điểm giải thoát qua tình dục. Nhưng ông Ihara này cũng nổi tiếng viết lố để câu khách, chiều lòng quan trên.
Nhưng xét tới nguồn gốc cầm thú của con người thì mê trai trẻ cũng chẳng lạ. Các trai này đều phải xinh xẻo dáng dấp giống con gái nhưng lại có cái hơn là khỏe, không ràng buộc, không sản phẩm phụ và nhất là đơn giản, nói ít. Mình là phụ nữ nhưng cũng phải thừa nhận rằng phụ nữ hơi phiền phức. Nhưng mình cũng thấy rằng straight thì vẫn luôn là straight. Mỗi xu hướng tính dục là một cái khác nhau chứ không có cái nào là tối thượng cả. Phía girl love cũng có thể đưa ra những luận điểm như phụ nữ sạch sẽ và tinh tế và biết cách đưa nhau high hơn. Nhưng nói chung, straight thì vẫn là straight á và nhất là love is blind. Mùi quyến rũ của thiên nhiên có bao giờ là nhân tạo thơm tho gì cho cam =)))
Nhưng nói chung không đánh giá cao gì mấy cái thông tin gây sốc, và cũng chẳng phê phán gì. 5* này chỉ dành cho tình yêu trong sách, dù dưới hình tướng nào thì cũng là những tình yêu đáng quý. Yêu đúng kiểu tự nhiên hết lòng hết dạ á. Và tất nhiên nếu chỉ viết giật gân thì đâu thành kinh điển được. Ông Ihara này vẫn biết rõ những tủi nhục của đời trai trẻ đi hầu kẻ khác, biết rằng mọi thứ trên đời đều là phù du và tình yêu vốn là nghiệp chướng. Đúng kiểu "đã giác ngộ về tình yêu nên đã hoàn toàn quay lưng với tình yêu" =))) Nhưng tường tận lý trí về tình yêu thì dễ chứ giác ngộ để thoát ra được phải có căn có quả lắm =)) đúng là nghiệp chướng mà
người bạn bệnh hoạn giới thiệu là có cuốn samurai yêu sư thầy mình đã what? cho mượn liền đi nhưng thật sự là cuộc đời này không thể ngờ trước được cái gì.
Thật sự cũng không biết lấy ví dụ sao vì 40 truyện là 40 kiểu không thể tả nổi. Samurai thì từ lúc gặp mặt chén nhau tới mổ bụng chắc chỉ trong 1 buổi. Em đứng đầu nguồn phỉ nước miếng thì anh dưới này phải vội vớt nước uống trọn không nó phí =)) sư thầy thì bán hết cả thư pháp cổ với chặt hết cây rừng để bao trai, thằng nào bình thường kiêu thì lúc sa cơ cả chùa xúm vào rape cho chừa nha =)) mà trai chỉ chơi trai từ 12 tới 18 vượt quá là không thèm nha. Lỡ nhầm bé gái là bé trai thì ghê tởm khạc nhổ không ngừng nha =)) rồi tâm linh các thứ thật sự nhiều chuyện không thể tưởng tượng nổi á.
Ông tác giả này lấy vợ đẻ đống con xong vợ chết u uất chán quá đi tu xong kể là đã chơi 1.000 trai trẻ, nhiều em là miễn cưỡng nên tôi làm kiểu sớ cầu an cho các em đó nha. Hồi xưa nghe chuyện song tu thấy rợn người rồi nhưng ít ra cái đó cũng giấu với bên ngoài còn phái Chân tông của Kobo Daishi Nhật Bản này thì người cha rất tự hào được cúng con trai cho thầy chùa chơi nha =)) không ngấm nổi cái quan điểm giải thoát qua tình dục. Nhưng ông Ihara này cũng nổi tiếng viết lố để câu khách, chiều lòng quan trên.
Nhưng xét tới nguồn gốc cầm thú của con người thì mê trai trẻ cũng chẳng lạ. Các trai này đều phải xinh xẻo dáng dấp giống con gái nhưng lại có cái hơn là khỏe, không ràng buộc, không sản phẩm phụ và nhất là đơn giản, nói ít. Mình là phụ nữ nhưng cũng phải thừa nhận rằng phụ nữ hơi phiền phức. Nhưng mình cũng thấy rằng straight thì vẫn luôn là straight. Mỗi xu hướng tính dục là một cái khác nhau chứ không có cái nào là tối thượng cả. Phía girl love cũng có thể đưa ra những luận điểm như phụ nữ sạch sẽ và tinh tế và biết cách đưa nhau high hơn. Nhưng nói chung, straight thì vẫn là straight á và nhất là love is blind. Mùi quyến rũ của thiên nhiên có bao giờ là nhân tạo thơm tho gì cho cam =)))
Nhưng nói chung không đánh giá cao gì mấy cái thông tin gây sốc, và cũng chẳng phê phán gì. 5* này chỉ dành cho tình yêu trong sách, dù dưới hình tướng nào thì cũng là những tình yêu đáng quý. Yêu đúng kiểu tự nhiên hết lòng hết dạ á. Và tất nhiên nếu chỉ viết giật gân thì đâu thành kinh điển được. Ông Ihara này vẫn biết rõ những tủi nhục của đời trai trẻ đi hầu kẻ khác, biết rằng mọi thứ trên đời đều là phù du và tình yêu vốn là nghiệp chướng. Đúng kiểu "đã giác ngộ về tình yêu nên đã hoàn toàn quay lưng với tình yêu" =))) Nhưng tường tận lý trí về tình yêu thì dễ chứ giác ngộ để thoát ra được phải có căn có quả lắm =)) đúng là nghiệp chướng mà
February 20, 2008
The Great mirror of Male is a collection of almost 40 stories depicting homosexual relationship between adult men and adolescent boy in 17th Japan. It covers different social background but the most common target is a samurai class. Those stories are full of passion and sometimes ends like proper eastern romance should...with utter tragedy and demise of both parties, here you can insert some gory Japanese tradition. How ever it is worth of reading to understand view on homosexuality in history of Japan. Also every BL fan should move to more classic literature and find out some heart tearing stories.
Read
May 21, 2020Japan proves itself once again way ahead of us both in romance and literature...
July 14, 2022
Oh boy (literally), I had an idea of what I was going into, but sadly, this book managed to exceed my bad expectations. First, there were 46 pages of introduction and not even by the original author, but by the editor. And the editor already had some statements where I was really wondering what he was saying. And he seemed to want to basically recap the entire book, so I skipped this. I had no patience for it.
The original author was questionable to say the least. And not just for the quality of the writing as so many of these stories felt like rehashes of each other and they started blurring into each other without being able to distinguish between them.
The content of these stories can be really sick sometimes when you think about it. And no wonder that the introduction by the editor said that the author didn't attack women but rather those who love them, based on much of the stuff that the author writes early in the book, as well as later (like throwing away the ash of the wife of a friend or wishing a husband would kill his wife, not to mention all the times women are the cause of strife), you have to say that to absolve the author of mysogyny. And while I was prepared for stuff that was icky, I did not expect for him to compare a boy and a girl in terms of attractiveness when they are 12 years old. And it was odd when the author once stated that men "turn instead to men". Is this a translation error? Because so far the author only spoke of loving boys and based on his prior statements, these boys might not even be in their teens.
A few times the author referred to historical people and at first I tried to figure out who these people are, after a while I gave up because it was fruitless. To give an example: He stated that "They say that after King Ai of Wei took Lung Yangchun as his lover, civil chaos caused by the subversive influence of women ceased and the entire nation was convinced of the virtue of boy love." Who is this King Ai of Wei? The notes later state it is some guy who lived in the 4th century BC. And is Lung Yangchun supposed to be Lord Longyang? He lived in the 3rd century BC. I had no clue who these historical reference is supposed to refer to.
And no wonder this title is translated as "male love" and omits the original subtitle "The Custom of Boy Love in Our Land" because then it would be advertized straight up on the title what this book actually features: Stories with highly pedophilic tones as this is literally about the "love" of adult (sometimes elderly) men to boys in their early teens. Sometimes these boys are in their mid and only rarely in their late teens. But even then it was noticeable that not once was a "love-making" described where the boy in question was older than 16, most of these "beauties" (if the age is given) are typical 14 years old, sometimes younger (like when gods matched an 11 year old in love with a 28 year old, and other men already had fallen for that 11 year old). And despite what for instance the editor claims, these stories don't suggest that this boy love was accepted and tolerated in the society of the times, if it were, not so many of these "love stories" would end in seperation or outright tragedy. One story was standing out because it directly stated that the "deep relationship in the way of boy love that was noticed and tolerated by the household." That was a first and the fact that the author pointed this out, shows that the claim of acceptance of this practice is a lie. Once you accept that fact, this book becomes clearer and you can predict things. Like when I did when I knew early on that Uhei (23) and Seizo (24) commit suicide because they cannot be with Matsusaburo (19) anymore. Where is the acceptance that the editor claimed? And when the one story at least seems to be more positive for having a male couple that is together for almost 50 years, the two are deeply misogynistic, almost lethally so.
And often these relationships have to be kept secret also, without any explanation. Which shows that the book talks nonsense when it claims that boy love became the fashion, "and love between men and women went into preccipitous decline". And in the next story we get told that "As a boy of seven his graceful beauty "that with one smile triggered a hundred lusts" was such that few people who saw him realized he was not a girl." Which really makes me question the alleged homoeriticism in this here, both due to this low age, which means no secondary sex characterics had developed yet, but also the feminine appearance of said boy.
And not only is here this demand for underage boys by adult men, there is also no "Love-making" between adults or between teenagers here. So I was not surprised when in one story Gensuke had all forgotten about "love-making" because Katsuya is already 18 when they meet again. And that is ancient by the standards of this book. Had he been 12 or 13 as the boy in the next story, ok then things might be different. A small age gap between the "lovers" could also be an explanation why in another story a "vow of love" was mentioned but no "love making" unlike with the dead connosoir of boy love.
And when this book has the boys or others talk of "the peak of youthful beauty" it is clear that this means earl or mid-teenage years, especially when one boy says that his "bloom of youth will not last another five years. First they will take a tweezer to my hairline, and before long my forelocks will fall." Translation: He will be an adult and too old for this pedo-train. And this is what this is. In the next story they mourn boys with pock-marks since no one wants them or morns when they reach man-hood.
And based on what you sometimes see here, these boys are the lucky ones. Example: The author claimed that people clapped their hands in admiration at the depth of Sasanosuke's love for Haemon. Then why did he let him freeze to death!? What sort of love is that supposed to be? And it is really odd how so many people fall sick suddenly when they have the boy love, seriously, the guy Uneme here does the same when he sees Ukyo. Granted that Uneme is 18 speeks to potentially a more respectable pairing here, especially since according to the end Ukyo is 16. For these boy lovers here, 16 is pretty damn old. Of course, I can't remember reading anything about "Making love" here. Telling. Just as telling how in one story no boy occurs until the very end and even there he seems to be a substitute for the man's dead wife.
And I don't just question the amount of "boy love" and how it was regarded by wider society, I also question how much they really say about those times of the author.
But that was only in regard to the first half of the book, with the second half... well, things are different there. Read between the lines and you get a glimpse into the world of kabuki actors. It was very telling when one story only complains how buying boy actors for the night was currently more expensive due to some priests spending so much money in the past. Just as telling as the fact that this is done with the boy actors doing female roles apparently, no boy actors doing male roles are mentioned. In one story, you don't even have to read between the lines here, it is so obvious that this is nothing more than someone complaining that the boy prositutes are more expensive in his time and they dress above their station. The author pines for the days when "actors" (aka prostitutes) were satisfied with much less. And this only in regard to actors of female characters apparently. I can't remember any mentioning of actors playing male roles being presented as prostitutes. And he complains even that in his days "boys do not even refuse propositions from widows." Naturally, the ideal age is below adulthood, as shown by one story stating that a boy's beauty had faded and he became a monk, at the age of 20... aka this beauty, of this actor of female roles, is based on imitating female beauty (one boy was said to be envied by women for his female looks) and that needs boyhood, at 20 he is obviously masculine now. This "peek of youthful beauty" is still midteens... this book can be really hard to read. Anything older than that is regarded as strange by the author. As shown by a story that complains how kabuki actors had to shave off the locks and so looked like men. The only positive thing there is that the story seems to complain that actors could get no patrons beyond the age of twenty and now 34/35 year olds with "youthful looks" can get one and calls this "strange are the ways of love." And if you have any illusions regarding that this could in any way be something like mutual attraction, another story complains about teenage prostitutes visiting female prostitutes and says that they can wait until 3-4 years have passed and they are no longer young and in demand... which almost got me sick. And really impatient. I was thinking of stopping this early. This book is a chore to sit through. And with the kabuki actors, the old theme of death and being sick because of love continued. Save to say that this is a pretty depressing book. Soon after (at about 75 % of the book), I decided to not continue with this book. The stories are really troubling to me, this pedophilia is disgusting, some of these men hate women to a pathological degree and damn most of these stories are badly written and so similar they are just rehashes of each other.
This book is not worth reading.
The original author was questionable to say the least. And not just for the quality of the writing as so many of these stories felt like rehashes of each other and they started blurring into each other without being able to distinguish between them.
The content of these stories can be really sick sometimes when you think about it. And no wonder that the introduction by the editor said that the author didn't attack women but rather those who love them, based on much of the stuff that the author writes early in the book, as well as later (like throwing away the ash of the wife of a friend or wishing a husband would kill his wife, not to mention all the times women are the cause of strife), you have to say that to absolve the author of mysogyny. And while I was prepared for stuff that was icky, I did not expect for him to compare a boy and a girl in terms of attractiveness when they are 12 years old. And it was odd when the author once stated that men "turn instead to men". Is this a translation error? Because so far the author only spoke of loving boys and based on his prior statements, these boys might not even be in their teens.
A few times the author referred to historical people and at first I tried to figure out who these people are, after a while I gave up because it was fruitless. To give an example: He stated that "They say that after King Ai of Wei took Lung Yangchun as his lover, civil chaos caused by the subversive influence of women ceased and the entire nation was convinced of the virtue of boy love." Who is this King Ai of Wei? The notes later state it is some guy who lived in the 4th century BC. And is Lung Yangchun supposed to be Lord Longyang? He lived in the 3rd century BC. I had no clue who these historical reference is supposed to refer to.
And no wonder this title is translated as "male love" and omits the original subtitle "The Custom of Boy Love in Our Land" because then it would be advertized straight up on the title what this book actually features: Stories with highly pedophilic tones as this is literally about the "love" of adult (sometimes elderly) men to boys in their early teens. Sometimes these boys are in their mid and only rarely in their late teens. But even then it was noticeable that not once was a "love-making" described where the boy in question was older than 16, most of these "beauties" (if the age is given) are typical 14 years old, sometimes younger (like when gods matched an 11 year old in love with a 28 year old, and other men already had fallen for that 11 year old). And despite what for instance the editor claims, these stories don't suggest that this boy love was accepted and tolerated in the society of the times, if it were, not so many of these "love stories" would end in seperation or outright tragedy. One story was standing out because it directly stated that the "deep relationship in the way of boy love that was noticed and tolerated by the household." That was a first and the fact that the author pointed this out, shows that the claim of acceptance of this practice is a lie. Once you accept that fact, this book becomes clearer and you can predict things. Like when I did when I knew early on that Uhei (23) and Seizo (24) commit suicide because they cannot be with Matsusaburo (19) anymore. Where is the acceptance that the editor claimed? And when the one story at least seems to be more positive for having a male couple that is together for almost 50 years, the two are deeply misogynistic, almost lethally so.
And often these relationships have to be kept secret also, without any explanation. Which shows that the book talks nonsense when it claims that boy love became the fashion, "and love between men and women went into preccipitous decline". And in the next story we get told that "As a boy of seven his graceful beauty "that with one smile triggered a hundred lusts" was such that few people who saw him realized he was not a girl." Which really makes me question the alleged homoeriticism in this here, both due to this low age, which means no secondary sex characterics had developed yet, but also the feminine appearance of said boy.
And not only is here this demand for underage boys by adult men, there is also no "Love-making" between adults or between teenagers here. So I was not surprised when in one story Gensuke had all forgotten about "love-making" because Katsuya is already 18 when they meet again. And that is ancient by the standards of this book. Had he been 12 or 13 as the boy in the next story, ok then things might be different. A small age gap between the "lovers" could also be an explanation why in another story a "vow of love" was mentioned but no "love making" unlike with the dead connosoir of boy love.
And when this book has the boys or others talk of "the peak of youthful beauty" it is clear that this means earl or mid-teenage years, especially when one boy says that his "bloom of youth will not last another five years. First they will take a tweezer to my hairline, and before long my forelocks will fall." Translation: He will be an adult and too old for this pedo-train. And this is what this is. In the next story they mourn boys with pock-marks since no one wants them or morns when they reach man-hood.
And based on what you sometimes see here, these boys are the lucky ones. Example: The author claimed that people clapped their hands in admiration at the depth of Sasanosuke's love for Haemon. Then why did he let him freeze to death!? What sort of love is that supposed to be? And it is really odd how so many people fall sick suddenly when they have the boy love, seriously, the guy Uneme here does the same when he sees Ukyo. Granted that Uneme is 18 speeks to potentially a more respectable pairing here, especially since according to the end Ukyo is 16. For these boy lovers here, 16 is pretty damn old. Of course, I can't remember reading anything about "Making love" here. Telling. Just as telling how in one story no boy occurs until the very end and even there he seems to be a substitute for the man's dead wife.
And I don't just question the amount of "boy love" and how it was regarded by wider society, I also question how much they really say about those times of the author.
But that was only in regard to the first half of the book, with the second half... well, things are different there. Read between the lines and you get a glimpse into the world of kabuki actors. It was very telling when one story only complains how buying boy actors for the night was currently more expensive due to some priests spending so much money in the past. Just as telling as the fact that this is done with the boy actors doing female roles apparently, no boy actors doing male roles are mentioned. In one story, you don't even have to read between the lines here, it is so obvious that this is nothing more than someone complaining that the boy prositutes are more expensive in his time and they dress above their station. The author pines for the days when "actors" (aka prostitutes) were satisfied with much less. And this only in regard to actors of female characters apparently. I can't remember any mentioning of actors playing male roles being presented as prostitutes. And he complains even that in his days "boys do not even refuse propositions from widows." Naturally, the ideal age is below adulthood, as shown by one story stating that a boy's beauty had faded and he became a monk, at the age of 20... aka this beauty, of this actor of female roles, is based on imitating female beauty (one boy was said to be envied by women for his female looks) and that needs boyhood, at 20 he is obviously masculine now. This "peek of youthful beauty" is still midteens... this book can be really hard to read. Anything older than that is regarded as strange by the author. As shown by a story that complains how kabuki actors had to shave off the locks and so looked like men. The only positive thing there is that the story seems to complain that actors could get no patrons beyond the age of twenty and now 34/35 year olds with "youthful looks" can get one and calls this "strange are the ways of love." And if you have any illusions regarding that this could in any way be something like mutual attraction, another story complains about teenage prostitutes visiting female prostitutes and says that they can wait until 3-4 years have passed and they are no longer young and in demand... which almost got me sick. And really impatient. I was thinking of stopping this early. This book is a chore to sit through. And with the kabuki actors, the old theme of death and being sick because of love continued. Save to say that this is a pretty depressing book. Soon after (at about 75 % of the book), I decided to not continue with this book. The stories are really troubling to me, this pedophilia is disgusting, some of these men hate women to a pathological degree and damn most of these stories are badly written and so similar they are just rehashes of each other.
This book is not worth reading.
May 2, 2017
Moving to the head of the line after I saw it referenced again in another article I was reading. LMAO.
How can I not want to read this? Psst...I think the last one might be my favorite ;)
"Which is to be preferred: A girl of eleven or twelve scrutinizing herself in a mirror, or a boy of the same age cleaning his teeth?
Lying rejected next to a courtesan, or conversing intimately with a kabuki boy who is suffering from hemorrhoids?
Caring for a wife with tuberculosis, or keeping a youth who constantly demands spending money?
Having lightning strike the room where you are enjoying a boy actor you bought, or being handed a razor by a courtesan you hardly know who asks you to die with her?
How can I not want to read this? Psst...I think the last one might be my favorite ;)
July 22, 2021
Really great introduction which has a lot of interesting information. The text was great as well but I wish that the notes were written on the page that they appear so that I don't have to flip back and forth to the back of the book every time I come across an annotation. It ruined the flow a bit. Otherwise this is excellent.
September 5, 2020
An entertaining read which lends some insight into the practices and attitudes concerning homosexuality within a pre-westernized Japan. The first half of the book is constituted of stories that detail the often tragic intimacies between Samurai and boys, while the latter half deals with the prostitution of kabuki boy actors. As opposed to Greek homosexuality which upheld male love as something very much rooted in partnership and intellectual pleasure, I found that Japanese boy-love was much more sensual and hedonistic.
February 23, 2018
Difficult to follow; some of the stories are very confusing; not all of the stories are even about love between men but about relations between men and females. A few stories are good, but their number is small.
June 15, 2025
Marvelous book of short tales from medieval Japan about the fervent love between young men (beautiful boys, of age) and slightly older men (recently made adults) and all men ; the fetishizing of youthful male beauty. Excellent translation by Paul Gordon Schalow of the original collection of tales by Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693). Samurai men, monks, kabuki actors (especially boys playing women's roles), and hustling in the evenings. Somewhat repetitive as you approach the last dozen or so tales.
May 25, 2018
Este libro es una obra maestra de la literatura japonesa; sin embargo, considero que el autor hubiera podido profundizar en los sentimientos de los personajes que sienten atracción. La homosexualidad no es vista como un pecado, sino como una forma de apreciación de la belleza sin importar el género.
January 15, 2024
I have an interest in the history of homosexuality (as we would call it) in Japan, so I thought it was about time I read this book. The stories are nothing special, but I enjoyed it for the culture and history.
April 10, 2018
not that great
January 2, 2020
Very interesting tales of homosexual relationships and transactions from 17th century Japan.
August 18, 2021
Very beautifully written. My only regret is that all the love stories are doomed.
Very clear language. finishing the book I felt like bidding farewell to a friend
Very clear language. finishing the book I felt like bidding farewell to a friend
Read
July 4, 2022hasta la homosexualidad cansa cuando la historia es siempre la misma
January 15, 2023
Wonderful, wild, at times dark, at times hilarious, an informative read about the culture of male same-sex relations in 17th century Japan.
November 21, 2025
reading Edo era doomed yaoi in your hood what do you know about it
October 2, 2016
En un mundo de reverencias, donde incluso la casta más poderosa se hace llamar sirviente, las pasión es vista como poco elegante y una debilidad, aparece el amor entre hombres como LA posibilidad de explorar ese ardor, ese arrebatamiento si se me permite la palabra.
Es parecido, y a la vez muy distinto que en el mundo griego. Lo similar está en que la aceptación de estas relaciones dependen y están limitadas a ciertas clases sociales. Los señores con sus discípulos, monjes entre ellos, poetas, prostitución masculina etc. Pero encontramos que en el mundo clásico griego las pasiones homosexuales estaban embestidas de una coraza intelectual, acá se les reconoce como un impulso que debe atenderse.
Es parecido, y a la vez muy distinto que en el mundo griego. Lo similar está en que la aceptación de estas relaciones dependen y están limitadas a ciertas clases sociales. Los señores con sus discípulos, monjes entre ellos, poetas, prostitución masculina etc. Pero encontramos que en el mundo clásico griego las pasiones homosexuales estaban embestidas de una coraza intelectual, acá se les reconoce como un impulso que debe atenderse.
February 5, 2017
"Where it flourishes, a man must sometimes sacrifice his life for the one he loves. Why in the world did 'the man who loved love' waste such vast quantities of gold and silver on his myriad women, when the only pleasure and excitement to be found is in male love?"
The Great Mirror of Male Love is a highly fascinating, if not slightly discomforting, account of various homosexual encounters in medieval Japan. This is an aspect of the culture that I knew much less about- frankly because a lot of the Japanese authors from a similar time I've read were female. When I say it's kind of uncomfortable, I mean that a lot of the stories involve someone who is very young, as young as 15 or 16, paired with a much older man. Again, this is a cultural difference that I just have to get past, but it's still a little weird to me. Additionally, the author goes out of his way to exaggerate the degree to which "woman-hating" took place, which is also a bit... hmm.... misogynistic, but I guess maybe not entirely intended to be. Or maybe it is. I'm not sure.
Regardless of how I feel about the beliefs of the author, I do find it really interesting to get an intimate insight into the life of a samurai, and the cultural expectations of these individuals. I continue to be fascinated by Japanese culture the more I read about it, it seems.
The Great Mirror of Male Love is a highly fascinating, if not slightly discomforting, account of various homosexual encounters in medieval Japan. This is an aspect of the culture that I knew much less about- frankly because a lot of the Japanese authors from a similar time I've read were female. When I say it's kind of uncomfortable, I mean that a lot of the stories involve someone who is very young, as young as 15 or 16, paired with a much older man. Again, this is a cultural difference that I just have to get past, but it's still a little weird to me. Additionally, the author goes out of his way to exaggerate the degree to which "woman-hating" took place, which is also a bit... hmm.... misogynistic, but I guess maybe not entirely intended to be. Or maybe it is. I'm not sure.
Regardless of how I feel about the beliefs of the author, I do find it really interesting to get an intimate insight into the life of a samurai, and the cultural expectations of these individuals. I continue to be fascinated by Japanese culture the more I read about it, it seems.
August 11, 2017
È stata dura, dopo l'esperienza con "Storie di Mercanti" posso dire che non c'è prorio feeling con Saikaku.
Una carrellata di racconti piuttosto sterili che, procedendo con la lettura, si ripetono non lasciando mai il segno.
Un continuo inno all'amore fra ragazzi o, la via dei fanciulli, si contrappone ad altrettanti ironici insulti al genere femminile.
Il romanzo è suddiviso in otto libri e ogni libro in cinque racconti.
I primi due libri sono dedicati alla classe samuraica, gli ultimi due al mondo del kabuki.
Una sequenza di ragazzi, più o meno giovani, che si giurano amore eterno per poi durare meno di un fiore di ciliegio sul ramo e, come in un domino umano, li seguono a ruota nella morte l'amante e il non amato da uno dei due.
Decisamente più leggibili i venti racconti dedicati al teatro, le storie si alleggeriscono entrando nel mondo dell'arte, la vita notturna delle case da tè, le grandi bevute di sakè che poi sfociano puntualmente in omicidi inutili.
Interessanti le note al testo e la postfazione.
Una carrellata di racconti piuttosto sterili che, procedendo con la lettura, si ripetono non lasciando mai il segno.
Un continuo inno all'amore fra ragazzi o, la via dei fanciulli, si contrappone ad altrettanti ironici insulti al genere femminile.
Il romanzo è suddiviso in otto libri e ogni libro in cinque racconti.
I primi due libri sono dedicati alla classe samuraica, gli ultimi due al mondo del kabuki.
Una sequenza di ragazzi, più o meno giovani, che si giurano amore eterno per poi durare meno di un fiore di ciliegio sul ramo e, come in un domino umano, li seguono a ruota nella morte l'amante e il non amato da uno dei due.
Decisamente più leggibili i venti racconti dedicati al teatro, le storie si alleggeriscono entrando nel mondo dell'arte, la vita notturna delle case da tè, le grandi bevute di sakè che poi sfociano puntualmente in omicidi inutili.
Interessanti le note al testo e la postfazione.
August 4, 2023
I was looking for tragic tales of love between the samurai and this book impressed me. The men here always stood courageous, pursuing their aims heedless of death. Whether it be the fulfillment of familial vendetta, the protection of their honor, or the fatal consummation of illicit passions, they were unswerving in their fidelity to their moral code.
Sadly, while the first half of the book featured these samurai swains, the second part focused on theater hustlers. These were much less resonant for me tho they were still interesting. The long intro was a slog, but the context it gave made barreling through it worth it.
There's this lugubrious cast of impermanence and inevitability across the whole thing that made it a dreamy read. Add to this a refined oriental sensibility that glories in blossom-viewing parties and the like and you get one unforgettable book.
Sadly, while the first half of the book featured these samurai swains, the second part focused on theater hustlers. These were much less resonant for me tho they were still interesting. The long intro was a slog, but the context it gave made barreling through it worth it.
There's this lugubrious cast of impermanence and inevitability across the whole thing that made it a dreamy read. Add to this a refined oriental sensibility that glories in blossom-viewing parties and the like and you get one unforgettable book.
March 7, 2020
[NO TERMINADO] Lo siento, pero lo dejo. Quería que me gustase sí o sí porque parecía narrativa LGBT. Sin embargo, el contexto dentro de la obra se me escapa. Samuráis de cincuenta años pillándose por chavales de menos de quince, hombres muriendo por chicos que acaban de conocer y viceversa. Además, TODA ESA MISOGINIA. Es rara la vez que aparece una mujer y no se la desprecia, tachándola de vanidosa, ruidosa o emocional. Sí, entiendo que Ihara las haga de ese modo para ensalzar el amor entre hombres. No, no me resulta cómodo ni me incita a seguir leyendo.
Me quedé por la mitad de la segunda parte de las historias de samuráis. Quién sabe, a lo mejor las otras no me hubiesen resultado tan horribles.
Una cosa sí voy a destacar para bien y es lo poético que es el libro en algunos fragmentos. Y también que la edición es preciosa (está encuadernado sin lomo, cosido por unos hilos rojos y dentro hay un lámina emulando un espejo).
Me quedé por la mitad de la segunda parte de las historias de samuráis. Quién sabe, a lo mejor las otras no me hubiesen resultado tan horribles.
Una cosa sí voy a destacar para bien y es lo poético que es el libro en algunos fragmentos. Y también que la edición es preciosa (está encuadernado sin lomo, cosido por unos hilos rojos y dentro hay un lámina emulando un espejo).
June 19, 2013
Quite a fascinating collection of stories! Similarly, the translator, Paul Gordon Schalow, does a magnificent job in setting up the cultural background in which these stories took place. He not only thoroughly explains the non-issue that same-sex relationships, or rather man-man relationship, were in 17th century Japan, but he also centers the reader as to the deliberate exaggerations with which Saikaky sought to flatter his intended audience, i.e. “woman-haters”. Thus, before the reader arrives at these quite nice stories of loyalty, bravery and passion, the reader is aware of the role which these stories fulfilled in Japanese society. A really good book and an excellent way for a modern reader to become aware of the tolerance that pre-dated “modernization”.
December 31, 2014
This is an amazing book, it is like a window to a completely undiscovered way to love. This book is totally different and authentic. The author helps us to understand a side of samurai's life that is often hide, and also is useful to understand how love is not a matter of gender.
Leí la versión en español editada por el Fondo de Cultura Económica y lo recomiendo altamente, pues ofrece un prefacio que nos ayuda a ubicarnos en el tiempo y espacio para así poder asimilar de mejor manera esta maravillosa obra. Además, a lo largo de sus páginas, se ofrecen bastas notas al pie de página que hacen aclaraciones e ilustran sucesos históricos mencionados por el autor.
Leí la versión en español editada por el Fondo de Cultura Económica y lo recomiendo altamente, pues ofrece un prefacio que nos ayuda a ubicarnos en el tiempo y espacio para así poder asimilar de mejor manera esta maravillosa obra. Además, a lo largo de sus páginas, se ofrecen bastas notas al pie de página que hacen aclaraciones e ilustran sucesos históricos mencionados por el autor.
March 23, 2024
Am I the only one who was a bit confused with some of the stories? Or is it only my version that's weird? (I downloaded mine; it seems like there were some spelling mistakes)
Overall, I enjoyed it. It was just what I needed to read to understand homosexuality during pre-westernised Japan.
I learned so much about the relationship between Samurai and young boys and male kabuki actors. What hurts most: not every story has a happy ending.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It was just what I needed to read to understand homosexuality during pre-westernised Japan.
I learned so much about the relationship between Samurai and young boys and male kabuki actors. What hurts most: not every story has a happy ending.
November 20, 2007
Because doesn't everybody need to read up on medieval Japanese perceptions of homosexuality?
Anyways, this was an intriguing read for one who's a Nihonophile: there's a definite divide in what was the cultural preconception and what now is.
Anyways, this was an intriguing read for one who's a Nihonophile: there's a definite divide in what was the cultural preconception and what now is.
March 22, 2013
WHOA is this ever illuminating. ... I will never view Mount Koya, samurai dramas, or the Osaka theater district in the same light again.
December 19, 2015
Something closer to 3.5/5. Stories are all too similar to one another. Second half of the book more interesting/more variation than first half.
February 27, 2016
Saikaku siendo todo lo Saikaku posible.
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