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ショタ研究会

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Dōjinshi

ショタコンのゆりかご

2020-05-10 by ケイ Leave a Comment

In ショタコンのゆりかご (shotacon no yurikago = “the cradle of shotacon”), shota expert Budōuri Kusuko (interviewed in 腐男子にきく) traces the origins of the manga genre shotacon. His focus is commercial shota magazines rather than dōjinshi.

The essay begins with a richly referenced study (first published in October 2006) into the etymology of the word shotacon, which partly relies on Watanabe Yumiko’s essay ショタの研究 (shota no kenkyū = “shota research”).

The second chapter describes “the development of shota expressions” in the 1990s, and the third chapter documents a temporary decline in the genre in the late 1990s.

The fourth and last chapter (first published in September 2007) is devoted to the development of commercial shota publications in the first years of this millennium (up until when Budōuri-san wrote his essay).

ショタコンのゆりかご is an excellent resource that provides important historical data to shota research.

A 10 page appendix with data on shota titles accompanies this essay.

An English summary of Budōuri’s findings can be found here:

The rise and fall of commercial shota magazines

Filed Under: Dōjinshi, Research

腐男子にきく。

2020-03-28 by Leave a Comment

This is the first study of “fudanshi” (腐男子), or “rotten boys”, originally published as a dōjinshi in 2008 by Yoshimoto Taimatsu. The term “fujoshi” (腐女子), or “rotten girls”, for women with a strong interest in BL and yaoi gained attention in 2006. Taimatsu-san turned his focus to male readers of BL and yaoi. In the words of Nagaike Kazumi:

In 2008, another male fan and critic of BL, Yoshimoto Taimatsu, self-published a study, Interviewing Fudanshi (Fudanshi ni kiku) in an initial attempt, by means of an innovative analysis of heterosexual male readings of BL, to make heterosexual male readers of BL (i.e., fudanshi or “rotten boys”) visible for the first time.

Nagaike, Kazumi. 2015. “Do Heterosexual Men Dream of Homosexual Men? BL Fudanshi and Discourse on Male Feminization.” In Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, edited by Mark McLelland, Kazumi Nagaike, Katsuhiko Suganuma, and James Welker, 189–209. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Taimatsu-san comments in the preface that the common image of straight men is that they are uninterested in, and sometimes hostile towards, homosexual imagery. Fudanshi obviously break with this homophobic tradition:

これまで男性は、同性愛者でない限り、同性愛は嫌いなのが当たり前と考えられてきた。 同性愛者は「近寄るな」と遠ざけられるか、 いいところネタとして、笑いの対象になるのがせいぜいだった。しかし「腐男子」は、嬉々 として男性同士の恋愛を楽しんでいる。いっ たい彼らはどのような性志向を持っているの だろうか?

Of particular interest is the interview with BL and shota expert Budouuri XQO-san (葡萄瓜さん), who has bought shota material “in realtime” since their appearance around 1991. Among other things, the two discuss how BL became a refuge for (straight) men who felt opressed in terms of love and sex during the bubble years, and how those men deal with the fact that the content is “homo”. As for shota research, they emphasise the importance of looking at reader letters in shota magazines.

Budouuri-san and Taimatsu-san discuss the allure of shota, and I want to quote from the interview here:

T: ただ、ショタには惹かれるものがあった のですよね。
B: ありましたね。男の子同士のふれあいは、 異性とのふれあいと少し違うかな、と言う感 覚がありました。
T: やっぱり男の子同士が一番いい、と感じ られていたのですか。
B: あくまでも男の子同士のふれあい、つながりの気分ですね。その表現としてエロもあ りと言うことで。
T: セックス先にありき、では無いわけです ね、一貫して。
B: 無いですね。

I think Fudanshi ni kiku is a unique contribution to this field, and I look forward to digging deeper into it.

Filed Under: Dōjinshi, Research Tagged With: BL, fudanshi, research, shota

ショタリポート①

2020-03-10 by Leave a Comment

This dōjinshi presents the first results of interviews I have made with Japanese male shota fans, divided into these sections:

  • Presentation of the participants
  • Preferred ages
  • Preferred type of shota
  • Sexuality and lifestyle
  • Real shota
A spread from ショタリポート① /Shota Ripōto 1 (2020)

Although the interviews were made separately, both over email and in physical meetings, I have intertwined the answers to create the feeling of a conversation between the participants. I have also drawn sketches of the participants to support this feeling.

And since this is a dōjinshi, I have also created my own character, Tarō-kun, who adorn several of the pages. Drawing my own character was also a way for me to come closer to the mindset of shota artists. It was actually a very overwhelming experience to come up with Tarō-kun and let him take various forms and expressions through my pen. It felt like giving life!

Setting up my space at ショタフェス5 (Shotafes 5) in Yokohama, 16 February 2020.

Shota Ripōto 1 premiered at Shotafes 5 in Yokohama on 16 February 2020. I sold 42 copies for 200 yen each. Many of the buyers showed interest in the study, and in the following weeks I met some of them to conduct further interviews.

A separate English translation is available as a simple folded leaflet.

Buy ショタリポート ① at Alice Books!

Filed Under: Dōjinshi, Research Tagged With: research, shota, Shotafes 5

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Reference library

ショタコンのゆりかご (book cover)

ショタコンのゆりかご

Author: ぶどううり くすこ

An essay on the origins of shota, published as a dōjinshi.

国際おたく大学―1998年 最前線からの研究報告

国際おたく大学―1998年:最前線からの研究報告

Authors: 岡田 斗司夫, 渡辺 由美子

An anthology on “otakuology” that contains Watanabe Yumiko’s important shota study.

吉本たいまつ:腐男子にきく。

腐男子にきく。

Author: 吉本 たいまつ

An interview study on male fans of BL and yaoi, published as a dōjinshi.

The Syotaroh by まんだ 林檎

The Syotaroh

Author: まんだ 林檎

An impressive work on the early shota subculture.

エロマンガ・スタディーズ

エロマンガ・スタディーズ

Author: 永山 薫

One of the main resources on adult manga.

ショタリポート①

ショタリポート①

The first part of an interview study of shota fans.

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