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Soryo No Naka: Saigyo No Shukke To Homososharu Yokkyu To Waka, Jack C. Stoneman

Faculty Publications

Among the many theories that attempt to explain Saigyo’s (1118-1190) sudden and dramatic transformation from samurai to Buddhist monk at the age of twenty three, the most controversial is what I am terming “the homosexuality theory.” At the time Saigyo, or Sato Norikiyo, as he was known before his tonsuring, left his family and career to become a monk, he was in the employ of Retired Emperor Toba (1103-1165) as a member of the Northern Guard (hokumen no bushi), an elite group of bodyguards and personal companions. According to the homosexuality theory, Saigyo became a monk in order …