The Wakashū Paradise of Japanese Artist Hideki Koh

Hideki Koh is a painter and a dollmaker whose works celebrate the cult of adolescent boys (wakashū), which is touched upon in some of our articles about kagema sex workers. Hideki Koh often refers to the shunga genre in his drawings and sculptures, showing sensual youths as delicate geishas.

Fig. 1. Hideki Koh (Instagram.com)

Fig. 2. Hideki Koh as a lecturer (Instagram.com)

Fig. 3. Cats: “Look delicious!” (Instagram.com)

Fig. 4. Coral Hairpin (kohgoods.thebase.in)

Fig.5. Danshoku Chaya emaki scroll 1 / Teahouse 1 (kohgoods.stores.jp)

Boys and Dolls

Hideki Koh was born in 1951 in Mie Prefecture, Japan. As follows from the artist's portfolio, Koh started drawing gay erotica featuring youths only in 1998. It remains unknown whether he had established his career as an artist before that year since no info on his education is provided on his website. Considering Koh's activity as a dollmaker, one may guess that sculpture was his starting point. Interestingly, in his portfolio, the artist mentions that in 1998, he began painting as "Hideki Koh." So, it's unclear whether he has been working under his real name since that time or, on the contrary, adopted another name after switching the subject of his art. The only thing known is that in 2013 Koh opened his drawing classes Kairakujuku with human anatomy as a main subject. According to Koh, Kairakujuku is "a mix of lectures and individual lessons, with a schedule focused on the theme of "understanding the human body" and how to draw realistically." Many posts on the artist's Instagram account show him as a lecturer. He teaches his students with the help of young models, very similar to the characters of his own paintings. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish models from dolls, which he also exposes. Since 2000, Koh began participating in group exhibitions and holding solo shows in Japan and abroad. On his platform "Koh Goods" (kohgoods.thebase.in) the artist sells paintings, postcards, and dolls.

Fig.6. instagram.com

Fig.7. instagram.com

Fig.8. Plum and Sword (instagram.com). “Plum” apparently refers to the pattern of the kimono. According to some sources, plum symbolizes the arrival of early spring, which could mean in this context early sexual experience. By the way, in Japanese culture, the short-lived beauty of wakashū is compared to cherry blossom.

Fig.9. Moonlight Incense (Instagram.com)

Barazoku Magazine

Establishing his career as a gay artist, for three years (November 1999 - December 2002), Koh had been producing covers for Barazoku, Japan's first commercial gay men's magazine issued from 1971 to 2008. Youths in their late teens and twenties were typical subjects of Barazoku. The distinctive feature of Koh is his realistic approach while many covers of Barazoku either look cartoonish or carry the vibe of the 1970s pulp-fiction covers.

Fig.9. Barazoku, cover by Koh (johncoulthart.com)

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Click HERE for an article on the Marquise De Sade of Japanese gay art

Sources: instagram.com/hideki_koh.kairakujuku/; kohgoods.thebase.in; hidekikoh.com; mayumiinternational.com; kairakujuku.com

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