Kagema (陰間) is a Japanese term for historical young male sex workers. Kagema were often passed off as apprentice kabuki actors (who often engaged in sex work themselves on the side) and catered to a mixed male and female clientele. For male clients, the preferred service was anal sex, with the client taking the penetrative role;[1]: 109  homosexual fellatio is almost unmentioned in Edo period (1603–1867) documents.[1]: 121–122 

A man cavorts with a wakashū (probably a kagema) and a female sex worker. The wakashū (wearing headscarf) sneaks a kiss from the lady behind his patron's back. Nishikawa Sukenobu, c. 1716–1735. Hand-colored shunga print.

Kagema who were not affiliated with an actual kabuki theatre could be hired through male brothels or teahouses specializing in kagema.[1]: 69–72  Such institutions were known as kagemajaya (陰間茶屋, lit.'kagema teahouse'). Kagema typically charged more than female sex workers of equivalent status,[1]: p111 and associated notes  and experienced healthy trade into the mid-19th century, despite increasing legal restrictions that attempted to contain sex workers (both male and female) in specified urban areas and to dissuade class-spanning relationships, which were viewed as potentially disruptive to traditional social organization.[1]: 70–78, 132–134 

Many such sex workers, as well as many young kabuki actors, were indentured servants sold as children to the brothel or theater, typically on a ten-year contract.[1]: 69, 134–135  Kagema could be presented as yarō (young men), wakashū (adolescent boys, about 10–18 years old) or as onnagata (female impersonators).[1]: 90–92 

This term also appears in modern Japanese homosexual slang.

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Leupp, Gary P. (1997). Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20900-8.

Bibliography

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  • Bernard Faure "The Red Thread" 1998.