1

In modern Japan, it is not uncommon to hear Western terms such as gay and lesbian (ゲイ gei and レズビアン rezubian).[4] Such terms differ significantly from terms used in the past and thus show a westernizing trend. Before western contact, Japan did not have a system of identification in which one's identity was determined by one's biological sexual preference. In fact, "the tripartite taxonomy of sexual types that has resulted from the social construction [homo-, bi-, heterosexuality-], held no currency in Japan."[5] However, this does not indicate that sexual behaviors between individuals of the same sex were not practiced. In fact, such behavior was so common in Japan that documentation of same sex relationships dates back over a thousand years.