Wakashu (Male Youth) with Two Swords
Not on view
This figure’s flamboyant haori, or thigh-length jacket, and hairstyle—forelocks and a shaven pate beneath an extra-long topknot—identify him as a wakashu, or male youth. Tucked into his sash is a pair of swords, not weapons but accessories. The product of a culture in which male-male sexual liaisons were not stigmatized, images of wakashu would have been acquired and cherished by wealthy patrons of the demimonde.
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