Woodcut, Print

Male actor playing the geisha Izumiya Okuni. 1847-50. Multicolour woodblock print (nishiki-e), ōban size. Homo-erotic undertones and cross-dressing are not uncommon in present-day Japanese popular culture, such as manga and pop music like visual kei. This has ancient antecedents. In kabuki drama an elderly man can play the part of a delighful young geisha. The actors creating female parts (onnagata) do not aspire to "represent" women as they are. That likeness is a stylised structure using the actor´s own male body as a base. This creates a sensual ambivalence. In particular, the culture surrounding the beauty of the young boy (bishōnen no bi) helped to develop the art of onnagata. (Japan. Bilder och föremål, s. 58)