| The story below is originally published on Mainichi Daily News by Mainichi Shinbun (http://mdn.mainichi.jp). |
| They admitted inventing its kinky features, or rather deliberately mistranslating them from the original gossip magazine. |
| In fact, this is far from the general Japanese' behavior or sense of worth. |
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In previous installments of his ongoing series about sex over the centuries, cultural historian Koshi Shimokawa has written about women going down on men, and then about the men who returned the favor. Now, in the latest installment in Asahi Geino (11/15), he combines the two.
Although "shikkusu nain" (6-9) is the most commonly understood term for this practice in the modern Japanese lexicon, it's clear from the remarkable variety of expressions used to refer to such tete-a-derriere encounters in feudal times that the custom needed neither inspiration nor encouragement from the French.
When performed with the male atop the female, the term used was "mukudori" (literally, a gray starling, but figuratively a sucker, i.e., a person easily cheated). With the positions reversed and the woman on top, it was called "gyaku mukudori" (gyaku means "reversed"). And if the couple engaged in a mutual tongue-lashing while lying on their sides, it was called "futatsu tomoe" (two commas) or "tomoe tori" (to take up the comma position).
Another term applied for when the man assumed a seated position and a woman wrapped her legs around his shoulders upside down. The word for this -- and it's a real, um, mouthful -- is "hiyodori-goe no sakaotoshi, "literally, the brown-eared bulbul flies across the down slope. Which, remarks Shimokawa with tongue in cheek, may be overdoing it slightly, since it's a vague reference to a strategic battle fought by the famous 12th century nobleman Minamoto Yoshitsune.
An alternate usage for the above term, Shimokawa writes, is believed to involving reaming one's wife from behind while she is having her period.
Around 1871, another term -- "chindai chapeau" (garrison cap) -- became popularized. It seems that soldiers in the early Meiji period wore caps bearing a badge with the imperial chrysanthemum seal.
The chrysanthemum has from long ago been used as a euphemism for "anus," due to its petals' resemblance to that part of the human anatomy. In this case, garrison cap was adopted for the 69 position since, while tonguing the woman's vagina, her anus was in close proximity to the male's forehead, just as badges with the chrysanthemum seal were fastened to the foreheads of the soldiers' caps.
When two lesbians became ensnarled in a steamy Sapphic squeeze, the Chinese term "shuang nu dui chi" (paired women in opposed eating) was also used in some cases.
Based on this remarkable abundance of nomenclature, asserts Asahi Geino, it is clear that 69 was a popularly practice from antiquity, predating the same activity in Europe by many centuries.
The oldest known Japanese "shunga" (erotic print), date back to 986 AD. (Now there's a great mnemonic for you: nine-ate-six. Get it?)
It seems that following revelations of a scandal involving an imperial princess named Nariko and a palace guard, Taira Masamitsu, an artist depicted their tempestuous tryst by drawing them in the act of 69.
By the late 13th century, writes Shimokawa, 69 had already become recognized as a "form of intense love. " Contrast this with Christian knights who, back in those days, were embarking on futile Crusades to wrest control of Jerusalem from the Muslims -- while leaving lonely ladies to linger in London, Lyon and Leipzig locked into chastity belts.
A booklet published in 1855 titled "Chigusa no Hanafutaba Chocho" provided detailed instructions for lovers in the 69 technique. "The woman," it wrote, "in total devotion, takes the man's penis into her mouth, putting all her effort into licking around it from the shaft to the tip ... while the man, meanwhile ... parts the woman's thighs and plants his face into their center, licking from the cleft to the clitoris, also penetrating her with his tongue, and licking around energetically until the woman produces an unending stream of love juice ..."
Another book, published in 1864, recommended 69 as a means for extending romance into middle age, specifically "arousing" women between the ages of 45 to 50. "Place the woman in hot water," the book sagaciously advises, "and have her wash her 'bobo' (pussy) well, and after you've plied her with a couple of drinks, start fingering her. Initially make it feel like tickling, and then at frequent intervals rub her clitoris, and when she becomes moist, press the penis toward her face while tonguing her pussy and clitoris."
Wasn't the Edo period wonderful, marvels Shimokawa, that middle-aged couples could still enjoy such intimacy. A few short years later the Meiji Period would usher in an era of sexual prudery and repression, driving these wonderful old customs into near-extinction. Indeed, it's come to pass that by 2007, cabinet ministers would be referring to women as "birth-giving machines" -- showing that the dour leaders of the nation could relate to sex solely in terms of its impact on population statistics.
Alas, sighs Asahi Geino, the passionate flame of middle-aged eroticism that glimmered back in the mid-1860s remains extinguished. (By Masuo Kamiyama, contributing writer)
