Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Samurai Gay Story

I wrote about Ohoku and Shogun yesterday.
Incidentally there are famous gay stories among Samurai. 'Gay' was called 'Shudou' in Japan long time ago. I write about 3 famous couples. They are real persons.

Shogun Tsunayoshi x Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu (familyname first):
The 5th Shogun 'Tsunayoshi' is known as a gay. Japanese people sometime see his life in historical dramas. I heard 'Tsunayoshi' came out in a drama 'Ohoku (The inner palace) ' before. In that time, his secretary 'Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu', who was a Tsunayoshi's lover, had lots of power. Many women served Tsunayoshi to produce an heir, but sure nobody had babies. Tsunayosho's mother was an underservant in the inner palace at first, and so other noble houses treated her disparagingly. She longed for a grandson because she hated the idea that one of the houses' sons succeed Tsunayoshi as the 6th Shogun. She used every possible means in vain.

Takeda Shingen x Kousaka Danjou Masanobu (family name first):
Takeda Shingen is famous warlord. Lots of Japanese history buff like him very much. His life is now depicted on NHK's period drama 'Fuurinkazan'. One of his lovers was Kousaka Danjou Masanobu who was a beautiful general. Shingen sent him a love letter saying that denied speculation of his love affair. I hear students of history describe it a pleasant story. Kousaka is also known as an elite general.

Oda Nobunaga x Mori Ranmaru (family name first):
When asked about their favorite warlords, the largest number of respondents choose Oda Nobunaga. They are attracted by his leadership, with which he destroyed the old order of society to create a new sense of values. Ranmaru was his varlet. He is famous as an excellent beautiful boy and Nobunaga's lover. In 1582, General Akechi Mitsuhide attacked Nobunaga. One day Nobunaga was accompanied by only 160 bodyguards. Sure, one of them was Ranmaru. Nobunaga tried to defend himself but in the end committed suicide. Ranmaru fought bravely for his load Nobunaga and died in battle.

So 'Ranmaru' is a typical name of a beautiful boy. Today Japanese parents usually don't name their son Ranmaru. You may know Samejima Ranmaru who appears in Yaoi manga 'Kizuna' series. That's why he doesn't want to tell Kei Enjouji his first name when they meet. I think only narcissist is happy to tell the name.

You can see Kousaka and Nobunaga in 'Mirage of Blaze'(Yaoi novel, anime).
There are lots of historical yaoi or gay novels in Japan. Oushima Nagisa made into a movie from one of such novels several years ago. The title is 'GOHATTO'. They are interesting!

2 comments:

菅野 勝 [すがの・かつ] said...

The explanation of the name Ranmaru helps me a lot. I think the german translators don’t know this, they explain he feel ashamed because 'Ran' means orchid.
This is a very interesting report. Thank you!

lotus said...

I'm glad the explanation helps you. I guessed it's difficult to understand the origin of his first name 'Ranmaru' in English. 'Ran' means orchid, but that isn't why.