Kagema



Kagema (陰間) is a historical Japanese term for young male prostitutes. Kagema were often passed off as apprentice kabuki actors (who were themselves often prostitutes on the side) and catered to a mixed male and female clientele. For male clients, the preferred service was anal sex; homosexual fellatio is almost unmentioned in Tokugawa-era documents. Kagema who were not affiliated with an actual kabuki theatre could be hired through male brothels or those teahouses specializing in kagema. Kagema typically charged more than female prostitutes of equivalent status, and did a healthy trade into the mid-1800s despite increasing legal restrictions. Many such prostitutes, as well as many young kabuki actors, were indentured servants sold as children to the brothel or theatre, typically on a ten-year contract. Kagema could be presented as young men (yarō), wakashū (adolescent boys, about 10-18 years old) or as onnagata (female impersonators).



This term also appears in modern Japanese homosexual slang.