Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A boy after early childhood but before his coming-of-age ceremony (archaic)
  • noun A role in kabuki traditionally played by a boy of this age category
  • noun The soldiers of the oyabun, they perform the tasks that the oyabun gives them without hesitation. (From the Japanese Yakuza hierarchy)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Japanese 若衆 ("young person").

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Examples

  • Although there are many literary and artistic representations dating from the Edo period 1603-1857 which describe sexual acts which took place between men using terms such as danshoku and wakashu, at that time participating in such acts did not designate a specific type of person and so these records cannot be read as part of the history of ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ men.

    Asian History Carnival Coming Soon! 2006

  • Although there are many literary and artistic representations dating from the Edo period 1603-1857 which describe sexual acts which took place between men using terms such as danshoku and wakashu, at that time participating in such acts did not designate a specific type of person and so these records cannot be read as part of the history of ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ men.

    AHC #3 Coming Soon! 2006

  • Although there are many literary and artistic representations dating from the Edo period 1603-1857 which describe sexual acts which took place between men using terms such as danshoku and wakashu, at that time participating in such acts did not designate a specific type of person and so these records cannot be read as part of the history of ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ men.

    井の中の蛙 » Homosexuality in Japan: The Meiji Gap » Print 2006

  • Although there are many literary and artistic representations dating from the Edo period 1603-1857 which describe sexual acts which took place between men using terms such as danshoku and wakashu, at that time participating in such acts did not designate a specific type of person and so these records cannot be read as part of the history of ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ men.

    Homosexuality in Japan: The Meiji Gap 2006

  • Skilled hands of maids and youths (_wakashu [u] - kozo [u] _) employed in the house were fast packing these latter into convenient parcels.

    Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House), Retold from the Japanese Originals Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 2

  • The _banto [u] _ and one of the _wakashu [u] _ (young men employes) grasped the arms of Cho [u] bei.

    The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 1 (of 2)

  • It was just this time last year that a _wakashu [u] _ (attendant) named Tokuzo fell in love with a woman named Kotsu no Wakataké.

    The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 1 (of 2)

  • Strong hands seized him as he rolled over and over to the edge of the platform, to land in the arms of the enthusiastic _wakashu [u] _.

    The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 1 (of 2)

  • _Mikawaya_ -- "That Tokuzo, as the _wakashu [u] _ was called, when sent to the town hall was dressed in the thin grey cotton robe given as present to him by an _oiran_.

    The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 1 (of 2)

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