SexualJapan.com

Records of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Japan date back to ancient times; indeed, at some times in Japanese history love between men was viewed as the purest form of love.

While homosexuality had never been viewed as a sin in Japanese society and religion, sodomy was restricted by legal prohibition in 1873, but the provision was repealed only seven years later by the Penal Code of 1880. Exposure to Western religious thought and the desire to appear "civilized" have influenced the way that homosexuality is viewed by both the Japanese government and by the population at large since the end of the nineteenth century.

Available sources on homosexual behaviour in ancient Japan, as in ancient China, are largely literary. Although a unified kingdom of Yamato existed from about the 4th century, Japan's written historical records really begin with the Kojiki, or Record of Ancient Matters, compiled in the early 7th century. While Chinese references from the 6th century BCE contain homosexual references, similar references in Japan begin to appear in about the 10th century. These references, at least initially, appear to follow the Chinese example.