Japanese Literature - Comrade loves of the samurai by Ihara Saikaku

I wouldn't call this a review, but just some after thoughts.

Written by: Ihara Saikaku
Translated by: E. Powys Mathers
Synopsis: In old Japan, sexual love among the samurai was permissible, and often matured into lifelong companionships. Comrade Loves of the Samuraitouches the subject of both normal and abnormal love with honesty and tenderness. (Goodreads)

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Have you ever read love between the samurai in the 17th Century?

When I first saw this book sitting on the shelves of the Japanese Literature section, I was immediately drawn by the title. Honestly, anything Boys Love (BL) I will definitely picked it up to read. But what made this book special was short stories between samurais, lords, and shouguns, in the 17th century. SAMURAI LOVE!!!!! You don't see it on media because samurais are honorable and prideful men with loyalty so this book was a very good insight on the lives in Ancient Japan ~400 years ago.

WARNING SOME SPOILERS BELOW:

Since this book is filled with short stories, they all end with the same way: by harakiri 

I remember reading on one of the chapters where this gay samurai looked down on women. I got a bit worked up because he said,  

"Women is a creature of absolutely no importance; but sincere pederastic love is true love. 

Both of these men detested woman as a vile garden worm."

/breathes deeply/ Thank god this is 17th century. If my gay friends ever say that, I would've slapped them or throw a thick dictionary at their head. 

Also, was the honor of samurai really that important? A scenario of one of the chapters:

A loves B, but B died of illness. 

On his deathbed, B told A to replace him and love his lover (C)

since A was B's best friend, he gave his promised and looked for C.

When A explained to C about B's dying wish, 

C said he will not be A's lover because he doesn't love him.

However, A said if C doesn't fulfill his friend/lover's wish, 

A will have to perform harakiri because he failed as a samurai

who cannot keep his promised.

Melodrama. But then again, people were so pure in the old days compared to now. I mean, if such situation were to happen I think I'll just tell the third person that he is fucking nuts. 

Another thing I noticed was pages to the Lord are often pretty boys and men in that period tend to fall for them... This was really interesting. No wonder they are always so feminine in manga/anime. However, one thing I'm curious about is, do samurai confuse their love for other samurai/page/lord with friendship and loyalty? It seems like they are attracted to each other based on loyalty. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY, if you are okay with gay love, do try to pick up this book. it's very mild love and it's more artsy/poetic short stories. You can see the honesty, pureness, and tenderness between the men and it makes me think about men now compared to before. 

This novel is definitely one of a fun read, but it satisfies mostly curiosity.

Overall: 3/5