by Ian Buruma
Tani Naomi being tortured again in Nawa to Hada (Rope and Skin)
An Edo-period courtesan in a print by Utamaro, about 1796
Modern Japanese amusing themselves at a geisha party in a long-forgotten film
Scene in a ‘Toruko’ massage parlour in a porn film, appropriately entitled Toruko
Female stars playing the romantic male leads in the Takarazuka version of Rose of Versailles
Tamasaburo, the most popular young onnagata, playing an Edo-period courtesan in full regalia
Romance in the Takarazuka theatre
The young Yoshitsune as a fighting bishonen in a picture by Takabatake Kasho
Young Kirokku in a fighting mood in Suzuki Seijun’s Elegy to Fighting
Miyamoto Musashi, the archetypal hero of the Hard School, in Inagaki Hiroshi’s Ketto Ganryujima (Final Duel on Ganryu Island) 1955
Kamikaze pilots waiting for departure in Aa Tokubetsu Kogekitai (Ah, The Special Attack Forces)
The assassination attempt on Moronao in Inagaki Hiroshi’s 1962 film Chushingura (Tale of the Forty-seven Ronin)
Ichikawa Raizo as a tattooed yakuza hero
Death of the oyabun.
The man in the suit (a rare occurrence) is Tsuruta Koji. The man on the extreme right is Takakura Ken
Sugawara Bunta shooting his opponent in the stomach in Fighting Without Nobility
Takakura Ken purifying his sword with saké
Sugawara Bunta, the nihilist hero
Good old Tora-san
Crowds queuing to see the newest Tora-san film