Love, Sex, and Democracy in Japan During the American Occupation

Love, Sex, and Democracy in Japan during the American Occupation is the first book in English to examine the radical changes that took place in Japanese ideas about sex, romance, and male-female relations in the wake of Japan's defeat and occupation by Allied forces at the end of the Second World War. It is based on extensive archival research into popular magazines and newspapers as well as a range of sexological publications including sex guides, reports, and manuals published during the Occupation and immediately after. Although the main focus of the book is on heterosexual discourse and practice, the postwar period also saw the rapid development of a range of sexual minority subcultures: both male and female homosexuality are discussed, as are a range of heterosexual "perversions," including both male and female cross-dressing and sado-masochism, that were sources of fascination in the early postwar years. The book examines all these in relation to ideas of democracy brought and embodied by the Occupation forces, adding an important dimension to studies of Japan's sexual customs during the Occupation period.

Mark McLelland is Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Wollongong, Australia and a former Toyota Visiting Professor of Japanese at the University of Michigan, USA.