The Institute for Japanese Studies hosts seminars in Japanese, Korean, and English on various topics spanning politics, economy, society, culture, and arts of Japan, inviting experts not only from Korea and Japan but also from Europe and the United States.
The 293rd invited seminar on Japanese experts will be held under the theme: "A Cultural History of Japanese Male Homosexual Magazines: Between Play and Resistance." We look forward to the participation of those interested.
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This seminar will be held both offline and online.
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On-site participation is open to everyone without prior registration, and lunch boxes will be provided from 12:00 PM (until supplies last).
Title: A Cultural History of Japanese Male Homosexual Magazines ─ Between Play and Resistance ─
Speaker: Sujeong Park (Senior Researcher, Institute for Japanese Studies, Incheon National University)
Date & Time: Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 12:00–14:00 (Lecture starts at 12:30)
Venue: GS Room (Room 201), Graduate School of International Studies, Building 140-1, Seoul National University / Online via ZOOM
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ZOOM ID: 583 289 8745
Language: Korean
Overview: Kidan Club (1947–1975), which emerged amidst a postwar craving for entertaining reading material, was one of the "gasutori" magazines that evolved into an adult magazine by embracing various sexual preferences—once regarded as "perverse desires." While resisting state censorship and the campaign to eliminate harmful publications, Kidan Club garnered support from individuals engaged in deviant sexuality, influencing the emergence of male homosexual and SM magazines in the 1960s. In particular, Sabu (1974–2002), a male homosexual magazine specializing in SM, served as a space of play where sexual desire and representation intersected. At the same time, Sabu came to embody the possibility of an early practice of forming and articulating minority identities through the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. This presentation aims to trace the trajectory of minority media from adult magazines to male homosexual magazines and make visible the existence of Sabu situated between play and resistance.
Contact: Administration Office, Institute for Japanese Studies (880-8503 / ijs@snu.ac.kr)