Ito Bungaku

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Bungaku Ito
伊藤いとう 文学ぶんがく
Born (1932-03-19) March 19, 1932 (age 92)
Tokyo
NationalityJapanese

Bungaku Ito (Jap. 伊藤いとう 文學ぶんがく new characters 伊藤いとう 文学ぶんがく; born March 19, 1932) is Japanese entrepreneur, founder and editor-in-chief of Japan's first commercially based homosexuality magazine Barazoku. He is the president of Daini-Shobo (Jap. 株式会社かぶしきがいしゃ第だい二に書房しょぼう).

Biography[edit]

Bungaku Ito was born in Tokyo in 1932 in a family of publisher Toichi Ito.[1] Ito graduated from Komazawa University with a degree in Japanese literature. He was interested in Japanese poetry and was a member of university literary circles.[2]

In 1948, Toichi Ito founded a small publishing house called Daini-Shobo. After graduation, Bungaku Ito joined his father's company and began to study publishing. Daini Shobo was not doing very well at the time: it focused on publishing collections of poetry, and although the reviews of some of them by literary critics were positive, they did not sell much.[3]

In 1962, Bungaku Ito, who had almost taken over the publishing house by then, decided to publish a series of erotic literature called Night Books (Jap ナイト・ブックス). The series became popular, with more than 60 books published, and Ito decided that his publishing house needed to focus on erotica.[3]

In 1966, Daini Shobo, run by Ito alone, published Alone Sex Life: For the Days of Solitude. (Jap. ひとりぼっちの性せい生活せいかつ＝孤独こどくに生いきる日々ひびのために) by Masami Akiyama (秋山あきやま正美まさみ). The book described the process of masturbation. At the time, other publishers did not want to publish such literature, however, the book sold well (several tens of thousands of copies were sold out).[4] In the same year, Ito published two more of Akiyama's books, after which the publisher began to receive letters with questions and opinions from readers, mainly homosexual readers.[4]

In 1968, Ito published two new books by Akiyama, aimed at a homosexual audience 30,000 copies of which were sold.[4] However, many customers were embarrassed to buy the book in stores and came directly to the publisher for it.

Ito started to publish materials for homosexual audiences[4] and decided to publish a gay magazine to stand up for people suffering from discrimination and reduce social prejudice against them[5][6][7][8]

The first issue of Barazoku was published on July 30, 1971, and was the first gay magazine in Japan that could be purchased in stores[9] (before that, only self-published magazines were available).[6]

Barazoku was published for 33 years, and remained one of the most popular gay press publications in Japan.[6]

Personal life[edit]

In 1958, Ito married Kimiko Kawashima.[10] They have son Fumihito. On January 11, 1970, his wife died at the age of 33 from carbon monoxide poisoning.[11][12] In October of the same year, Ito married for the second time. He had another son, Fumihisa, by his second wife.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "朝日新聞あさひしんぶんの力ちからでベストセラーに！" (in Japanese). 2011-06-06. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  2. ^ "プロフィール" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  3. ^ a b 伊藤いとう文学ぶんがく. 『薔薇ばら族ぞく』編集へんしゅう長ちょう. 幻冬舎げんとうしゃ. 2006. pp. 14–18. ISBN 9784344408647.
  4. ^ a b c d "オナニーから『薔薇ばら族ぞく』へと！" (in Japanese). 2009-11-06. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  5. ^ Leo Lewis, Tim Teeman (2004-10-12). "Voice of gay Japan falls silent after 30 years in the pink". The Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  6. ^ a b c Jonathan D. Mackintosh (2006). "Itō Bungaku and the Solidarity of the Rose Tribes (Barazoku): Stirrings of Homo Solidarity in Early 1970s Japan". Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, Issue 12 January 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  7. ^ Eiki Mori. "Japan's Fairy Godfather". Archived from the original on 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  8. ^ Jonathan D. Mackintosh (2006). "Itō Bungaku and the Solidarity of the Rose Tribes (Barazoku): Stirrings of Homo Solidarity in Early 1970s Japan". Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, Issue 12 January 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  9. ^ Jonathan D. Mackintosh (2010). Homosexuality and Manliness in Postwar Japan. Taylor & Francis. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780415421867.
  10. ^ 伊藤いとう, ミカ (2009). ハダカ ノ ニョウボウ: 60ネンダイ オ シップウ ノ ゴトク カケヌケタ ゼンエイ ブヨウカ イトウ ミカ. 東京とうきょう: 彩いろどり流りゅう社しゃ. ISBN 978-4-7791-1434-2.
  11. ^ "ぼくは死しを恐おそれない！" (in Japanese). 2013-09-09. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  12. ^ "「文學ぶんがくの小路こうじ」という石柱せきちゅうを建たてたい！" (in Japanese). 2012-11-05. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  13. ^ "『薔薇ばら族ぞく』と共ともに育そだった息子むすこに竜りゅうさんが……。" (in Japanese). 2011-11-22. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
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