An onnagata is a Japanese term for a female impersonator.
Onnagata also refers to male kabuki characters who played female parts.
From the medieval period to the 19th century in Japan, various men practised shudo, which is age-structured homosexuality. Because of this, many onnagata moonlighted as prostitutes.
Today, shonen-ai and yaoi are existing types of male homosexuality.
Nanshoku, or "the love of the samurai", may center on a relationship between a samurai and an onnagata.
by teh anonymous January 19, 2007
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