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"The sons of samurai families were urged to form homosexual alliances while youth lasted, and often these loves matured into lifelong companionships."
As the introduction to this book of short stories explains, the author of "Comrade Loves of the Samurai," Saikaku Ihara, lived and wrote in the late 1600s in Japan, during a time when "The code of bushido and the knightly samurai declined in importance. Family security and personal pleasure gave a new meaning to a society that savored peace after centuries of devastating clan wars."
In his stories, "Saikaku provides us with a new view of homosexual love, which has a venerable history in Japan."
Isn't that cool? Wow! I wanna go have sushi - right now!
quotes from pgs. ix, xi, and xvii, Introduction to the New Edition, "Comrade Loves of the Samurai" by Saikaku Ihara, translated by E. Powys Mathers. Introduction by Terence Barrow, Ph.D.
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