Male Same-Sex Politics in Post-War Japan
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A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details i Between Nationalisation and Globalisation: Male Same-Sex Politics in Post-War Japan by Kazuyoshi KAWASAKA UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, September 2015 i ii I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature:............................................. ii iii Acknowledgements It is not easy for anyone to write a doctor thesis, but I persevered to complete my study about nationalism. Between 2011 and 2016, I developed this study while I was observing two countries I deeply relate to – Japan and England – leaning towards nationalism and xenophobia. Japan has dramatically changed since the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 as if people are trying to look away from their unforgettable loss and uncontrollable forces of nature and nuclear technology through nationalism. Perhaps, people might have needed to hold on to something stable and a nation has become the object of people’s desperate desire. In any case, from the opposite side of the Eurasia continent, I kept looking at how Japanese society has changed from what I remembered in a very short period. At the same time, I have lived as a foreign student in England and I experienced with surprise and anxiety how the public sentiment was turning anti-immigrant under the Tories’ austerity agenda and political campaigns. This study was also a challenge for me to understand how suddenly national politics and people’s minds can change, and to find hope for a better future. I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my University of Sussex supervisor Sally R. Munt, who gave me invaluable advice and inspiration during my Ph. D. research. Her encouragement really helped me, especially when giving me direction and casting a critical eye over my early research. She also helped me adapt to life in England which is the first country I have lived in outside of Japan. I would also like to thank Shimizu Akiko of the University of Tokyo. She has introduced me Feminist and Queer Theory and taught me how to apply Critical Theory to my own life. Without knowing her, I would not have chosen to learn Queer Studies for my Ph. D. study. Finally thank you to my family, who provided me with help and patience to allow me to complete my thesis. Kazuyoshi Kawasaka iii iv UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX KAZUYOSHI KAWASAKA THESIS SUBMITTED FOR DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BETWEEN NATIONALISATION AND GLOBALISATION: MALE SAME-SEX POLITICS IN POST-WAR JAPAN Summary This thesis employs an approach of discourse analysis on male homosexuality in post- war Japan from the viewpoint of the tense relations between Japanese cultural nationalism and the globalisation/Westernisation, along with the shifts of discourses of sexuality in the United States and the UK. Through analysing the discourses of sexuality in post-war Japan, I will theoretically indicate the historical and political relationship between problems of gender and sexuality, and national problems such as national identity between Japanese and Western cultures, ideal image of the nation, and its modern development. Firstly, I argue the works of Mishima Yukio (1925-1970), who is one of the representative writers in post-war Japan, especially famous for his gay- themed works and far-right political activism including his attempt of coup d’état. Then, I explore the political dynamics of gay shame in Japan, focusing on Togo Ken (1932- 2012), a pioneer of Japanese gay activism who had challenged national elections since 1971 as an openly homosexual candidate. Next, I discuss how the AIDS crisis has changed the discourses of sexuality and the sense of national and cultural borders in Japan. I then discuss the Japanese homonormativity in the 2000s, analogous to Lisa Duggan’s new homonormativityin the US context. Finally, I analyse Japanese ‘LGBT’ political phenomena under the transnational influence of the Obama administration’s LGBT-friendly policy in the contemporary Japan, and point out problems under the influences of ‘global’ LGBT activism in contemporary Japanese society. iv v CONTENTS Acknowledgement iii Summary iv List of Figures viii Note to Reader ix INTRODUCTION: SEXUAL POLITICS AND CONTRADICTORY NARRATIVES IN MODERN JAPAN .................................................................................................... 1 1.INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 2.JAPANESE OR WESTERN CULTURE? CONTRADICTORY DISCOURSES AND NARRATIVES ON SEXUAL POLITICS IN JAPAN ............................................................ 3 2-2. Sexuality and Historical Narratives ........................................................... 10 3.SEXUALITY AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EAST AND WEST ............... 15 3-1. Sexuality and Western Modernity in Queer Theory .................................. 15 3-2. Interculturality: Sexuality and Japanese Modernity ................................ 19 4.HISTORICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF SAME-SEX SEXUALITY IN PRE-WAR JAPAN .. 21 4-1. ‘Homosexuality’ as a New Future ............................................................... 21 4-2. Samurai and their Nanshoku: a New Gender Norm and Old Sexual Activity ................................................................................................................. 25 4-3. Ero-guro-nansensu: Representations of Gender and Homosexuality in a Modernised City in the 1930s ............................................................................. 29 5.HISTORY OF OTHERING: NATIONAL IDENTITY, TEMPORALITY, GENDER AND SEXUALITY ............................................................................................................... 31 5-1. The National Ideal and Representations of Homosexuality ...................... 31 5-2. Definitions of Homo/Heterosexuality, National Identity and Temporality33 5-3. Contradictory Politics: Theorising Repression against Gender and Sexual Minorities and Sexual Politics in Japan ............................................................ 36 6.THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS .......................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 1: MISHIMA YUKIO AS A HOMOSEXUAL POLITICAL PRECURSOR ...................................................................................................................................... 45 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 45 2. MISHIMA YUKIO: LIFE AND WORKS ...................................................................... 46 2-1. Mishima and Homoerotic works ................................................................. 46 2-2. Mishima’s Political Commitment and Scandalous Death ......................... 48 3. MISHIMA’S SCANDALOUS DEATH AND CRITIQUES OF HIM ................................... 50 3-1. Mishima and Japanese Stereotypes ........................................................... 50 3-2. Mishima and Homosexuality ...................................................................... 52 4. HOMOEROTICISM AND MISHIMA’S POLITICAL THOUGHTS ................................... 55 4-1. The Emperor and Japanese Uniqueness .................................................... 55 4-2. Politics, Eroticism and the Emperor ........................................................... 58 5. MISHIMA’S BODY, MASCULINITY AND PERFORMANCE ......................................... 60 5-1. Changes in Japanese Masculinity through the Loss of World War II ...... 60 5-3. Defeated Heroes as the Japanese Masculinity by Mishima ...................... 63 5-4. Mishima’s Performance in the Film and the Nationalised Male Body ..... 64 6. MISHIMA AND HOMOEROTICISM ........................................................................... 66 6-1. Male Bodies and Homoeroticism ................................................................. 66 6-2. Queer Critique and Mishima ...................................................................... 68 7. MISHIMA’S NEW DISCOURSE OF SAME-SEX DESIRE: HISTORICISING MISHIMA YUKIO IN THE HISTORY OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN JAPAN .......................................... 70 v vi 8. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 74 CHAPTER 2: QUEER SHAME AND TOGO KEN’S POLITICS ........................ 76 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 76 2. TOGO KEN AS THE LEGENDARY OKAMA ............................................................... 77 2-1. The Pioneer of Gay Activism ....................................................................... 77 2-2. Togo is a queer model of Japan ..................................................................