A General History of Japanese Masochism: Martyrdom to Order in the Early Modern Period | #5
The suffering up until the medieval period was still something special.
There was resolve, there was style, and it was somehow cool.
But in the early modern period, the Japanese realized something.
It is tiring to keep being hit.
It is also exhausting to keep having to make up one's mind.
── Then, one should just make endurance a part of daily life.
The early modern period is not an era that embraces suffering as an aesthetic.
It is an era that began to operate suffering as a lifestyle.
You are not hit.
You are not yelled at.
The feeling of being ordered around is also faint.
You are simply quietly tightened by rules that wear the faces of "because it's the rule," "because of your status," and "because that's just how it is."
Here, masochism ceases to be a fetish or an ideology.
It becomes a habit.
Those who can endure are admirable, those who do not show greed are adults, and those who obey silently are trusted.
Moreover, this hell is comfortable to live in.
There is order, culture flourishes, and there is entertainment.
That is why no one says it is "strange."
The early modern period is an era where endurance was perfected as "normal."
🔗Related Links
Introduction | The Early Modern Period: The Era When Masochism Became a "System"
The Japanese of the early modern period finally realized it.
Being hit is tiring.
Continuing to make up one's mind is also exhausting.
Continuing to fit into a mold is also suffocating.
── So, what to do?
Just turn endurance into a mechanism.
This is the revolution of the early modern period.
The early modern period is not an era that embraces suffering as an aesthetic.
It is an era that organized suffering into a form that can be operated daily.
Until the medieval period, an individual's stance was still being questioned.
The face of resolve.
The hesitation of loyalty.
The beauty of entrusting one's body to a mold.
In all of these, the "proper individual" was the protagonist.
But the early modern period is different.
In the early modern period, a society is prepared where one can endure even without being proper.
No, let me be precise.
A society is perfected where it is difficult to live in the first place if you are not proper.
From here, Japanese masochism graduates from spiritualism, aesthetics, and personality evaluation, and descends into systems, life, and culture.
In other words ──
Masochism becomes infrastructure.
First, placed at the entrance of the early modern period is the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
This place is still flashy.
Blood is shed.
The sounds are loud.
Life ends in an instant.
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi.
Power is exposed, emotional, and excessive.
It is not a dimension of enduring or putting up with things.
When they hit, they hit all at once.
If you are liked, it is heaven.
If you are disliked, it is an immediate end.
The masochism of this era is a short-term decisive battle type.
The body stiffens with tension and fear, and one mistake in judgment leads to the abyss.
But this "hell of hitting all at once" does not last long.
Because it is tiring.
For both the one hitting and the one being hit.
So, what comes next is Edo.
When entering the Edo period, the world suddenly becomes quiet.
Wars decrease.
Swords are not drawn.
Flashy deaths are actually considered vulgar.
What increases instead is ── rules.
・Status is fixed
・Luxury is prohibited
・Selfish behavior is a no-go
・Do not disturb the atmosphere
・Do not stand out
・Do not make waves
You are not hit.
But you are constantly being tightened.
This is the essence of Edo.
Edo masochism does not hurt.
No blood is shed.
But there is no escape.
Because suffering is the "rule."
"Because it's the rule"
"Because it's always been that way"
"Because everyone is enduring it"
── These are the ultimate binding words.
What is important here is that no one is saying "suffer."
They are just saying, "behave correctly."
But that correctness suppresses desire, swallows emotions, and silences dissatisfaction.
In other words, Edo is a device that mass-produces bodies that can obey.
And here, an interesting reversal occurs.
On the surface, endurance.
Silence.
Moderation.
Frugality.
But behind the scenes ──
Play.
Accumulate.
Tease.
Be circuitous, take the long way around.
By the late Edo period, the Japanese finally begin to convert endurance itself into play.
Yoshiwara.
Oiran.
Kabuki.
Shunga.
"Iki" (chic) and "Yabo" (uncouth).
None of them are direct.
None of them are satisfied immediately.
You spend money and time, you are made to wait, you are made to take the long way around.
They don't give it to you immediately.
You can't touch it immediately.
You don't say it immediately.
Instead, the time spent enduring becomes the value.
This, as a structure, is exactly the same as ejaculation control.
Edo pleasure is not something that "liberates desire."
It is a culture of grinning while keeping desire suppressed.
Endure on the surface, play behind the scenes.
But if you play too much, you get tightened again.
This reciprocating motion is the perfected form of early modern masochism.
If I were to describe the early modern period in one word, it is this.
From an era of hitting all at once, to an era of tightening bit by bit.
And that tightening ──
・Is correct
・Is normal
・Is adult
・Is common sense
It wears these faces.
That is why it is hard to notice.
That is why it is hard to escape.
That is why it lasts a long time.
The hell of the early modern period is not flashy.
There are no heroes.
It is hard to turn into a story.
But ──
It happens every day.
It lasts a lifetime.
The person themselves thinks "this is normal."
Please rest assured.
The hell of the early modern period is comfortable to live in.
Next, first, Azuchi-Momoyama.
Let's start from the last flashy era where you are hit in an instant.
Azuchi-Momoyama Period | Being Hit in an Instant ── Excessive Power Masochism
── Flashiness, blood, betrayal. Short-term decisive battle type masochism
Azuchi-Momoyama period.
Japan in this era is impatient, anyway.
Hit before thinking.
End before enduring.
You are not even given the time to endure.
Japanese masochism up until the medieval period was ──
・Making up one's mind
・Continuing to hesitate
・Fitting into a mold
It was a relatively "long-term play."
But Azuchi-Momoyama is different.
Here, there is no foreplay.
It comes suddenly.
And, with a full swing.
Nobunaga.
Hideyoshi.
The two people whose names alone make the air tense symbolize a world that says, "Endurance? I don't know it. Produce results right now."
In this era, power has no emotion.
It does not explain.
It does not seek understanding.
If you are liked, you live.
If you are disliked, you die.
Yesterday's achievements? Irrelevant.
Today's mood is everything.
── Extremely violent, and extremely erotic.
Because here, the judgment of pleasure or displeasure is entirely entrusted to the other party.
Your own will? Logic? Justice?
Such things are powerless before a sword.
Azuchi-Momoyama masochism is not "enduring."
It is "not even having time to prepare to be hit."
Nobunaga suddenly snaps.
Suddenly laughs.
Suddenly massacres everyone.
Hideyoshi suddenly lifts you up.
Suddenly drops you.
Suddenly flips your status.
This unreasonableness.
This lack of consistency.
This "runaway emotion."
The power side is completely a sadist.
But this is important.
The side being hit is surprisingly hooked on this.
Why?
Because it is a short-term decisive battle.
You don't have to suffer for long.
You don't have to hesitate.
You don't have to worry about the mold.
"I might be killed right now."
All senses are concentrated on this one point.
The heart jumps.
Breathing becomes shallow.
The head goes blank.
── Yes, right here.
In this state, the body is completely dominated.
There is no room to think.
Before you can feel, you are made to react.
Azuchi-Momoyama masochism is not spiritual.
It is a physical reflex type.
The fact that there is a lot of betrayal is also a characteristic of this era.
The lord until yesterday.
The comrade until yesterday.
The loyalty until yesterday.
Everything ends today.
Do you betray?
Are you betrayed?
Either way, blood is shed.
But the fact that there is a lot of betrayal means,
If you look at the flip side, it is this.
The state of not being able to trust is normalized.
You cannot entrust yourself to anyone.
But if you don't entrust yourself, you cannot survive.
This tension of "I want to entrust, but it's scary."
This is the most erotic part of Azuchi-Momoyama.
You cannot feel safe.
But you cannot leave.
The closer you get to the strong, the more your life is in danger.
── The structure where the more dangerous the opponent, the more attractive they look.
It is completely perverted.
Power in this era is flashy.
Castles are gold-plated.
Clothes are also flashy.
Banquets are also flashy.
But behind that, people die easily.
In an instant.
Easily.
Without reason.
That is why people become like this.
・Don't think deeply
・Don't think about the future
・Entrust yourself to the current power
Here, we see the completion of short-term decisive battle type masochism.
You don't endure for long.
But the single blow is heavy.
It is the exact opposite of Edo, which tightens bit by bit.
Azuchi-Momoyama takes you to the limit in an instant.
This is not pleasure.
But there is definitely a "high."
The feeling of being alive is extremely sharpened.
The boundary between life and death is always close.
This closeness excites the body.
If I were to describe the masochism of the Azuchi-Momoyama period in one word, it is this.
"A perversion of leaning on power with the premise of being hit"
You don't know when you will be betrayed.
You don't know when you will be killed.
Even so, you approach.
Because if you are not hit, you have no sense of being alive.
In this era, the Japanese learn.
・Flashy suffering is easy to understand
・A hell of an instant is easy to prepare for
・Intense stimulation robs you of judgment
But this masochism does not last long.
Because it is tiring.
For both the one hitting and the one being hit.
Here, Japanese history enters the next phase.
Stopping flashy violence, reducing stimulation, and moving in the direction of tightening bit by bit.
Next is the early Edo period.
Swords are not drawn.
No blood is shed.
── Instead, you endure the whole time.
Hell becomes quiet.
But, for that reason, it becomes long.
Early Edo Period | Having Endurance Beaten Into You ── Institutional Masochism
── An era where you don't draw your sword, but instead have your heart drawn out
Early Edo period.
Here, Japanese masochism finally approaches its perfected form.
If Azuchi-Momoyama was an era of "hitting in an instant," the early Edo period is an era of "tightening bit by bit every day."
No blood is shed.
No swords are drawn.
No screams are raised.
── Instead, there is no escape.
The keyword for this era is one.
System.
There is no one hitting you.
But the feeling of being hit continues the whole time.
First, the Edicts on Compassion for Living Things.
Roughly speaking, it is a rule that looks extremely kind, saying "cherish living things."
But what happened on the ground?
You cannot hit a dog.
You cannot even kill an insect.
You cannot complain even if it is unreasonable.
── In other words, all outlets for emotion were blocked.
You cannot express anger.
You swallow your irritation.
Dissatisfaction is silence.
At this point, it is already a full-fledged masochism.
Because "enduring" itself is evaluated as good.
Next, the Sumptuary Edicts.
Do not be luxurious.
Do not be flashy.
Do not desire.
This is completely ejaculation control of desire.
I want.
I want to touch.
I want to enjoy.
── But, do not release.
Do not show it on the surface.
Do not put it into words.
Do not show it on your face.
The Japanese of the early Edo period learn here.
"The more a person can endure, the more admirable they are"
This value system is too dangerous.
Because the act of enduring itself turns into pleasure.
The status system is also nasty.
The moment you are born, your position is decided.
You cannot go against those above.
Be kind to those below.
A wall you cannot cross even if you try.
A hierarchy that does not change even if you work hard.
What does this "structure that doesn't move no matter what" do to people's hearts?
── Give up.
When you give up, people become comfortable.
When you become comfortable, you stop thinking.
When you stop thinking, you obey.
Early Edo masochism has no self-awareness.
No one thinks they are "being hit."
But everyone is bound.
And, the samurai who does not draw his sword.
This is the creepiest part.
Even though he is a samurai, he cannot cut.
Even though he is strong, he cannot use it.
Even though he has power, he suppresses it.
This "state of having power but not being able to release it."
── Extremely erotic.
Constant repression.
Constant holding back.
Always "not yet."
The early Edo period enters a teasing play for the whole society.
What is important here is that it looks like no one is forcing it.
"Because it's the rule"
"Because it's that kind of era"
"Because it can't be helped"
── You are convincing yourself.
This is the perfected form of institutional masochism.
You are obeying even though you are not being hit.
You are enduring even though you are not being ordered.
You think it is "correct" even though it is painful.
In the early Edo period, the Japanese finally obtain a body that is bound without self-awareness.
The hell of this era is quiet.
It is not flashy.
It is hard to turn into a drama.
But it continues every day.
It continues from morning until night.
It lasts a lifetime.
Moreover, the person themselves thinks it is "normal."
If I were to describe the masochism of the early Edo period in one word, it is this.
"An era where a body that can obey is perfected without you noticing"
And this repression eventually erupts in another direction.
Endurance on the surface.
Pleasure behind the scenes.
Next is the late Edo period.
An era that turns endurance itself into play.
Hell becomes sexy from here.
Late Edo Period | Enjoying Endurance ── Cultural Masochism
── Behind the prohibition, sexiness matures
Late Edo period.
Here, Japanese masochism finally becomes play.
The early period was bound by the system.
The late period licks and plays with those bonds.
There are many prohibitions.
Management is strict.
There is no money.
Status does not move.
There is basically no escape.
── Yet, it is strangely sexy.
Why?
The answer is simple. Endurance lasted too long.
A society that has been tightened for a long time will one day become like this.
"If we can't release it, let's polish the technique of accumulating it."
In the late Edo period, the Japanese reach this point.
First, Yoshiwara.
On the surface, discipline.
Curfews, etiquette, order, arrangements.
You cannot meet.
You cannot touch immediately.
You are not satisfied immediately.
This is important.
They don't give it to you immediately, but it is thorough.
Money before meeting.
Time before meeting.
Reputation before meeting.
Rumors before meeting.
── The foreplay is just too long.
The Oiran does not smile immediately.
Does not show color immediately.
Rather, she is cold.
That coldness works.
Even though you are rejected, you want to be chosen.
The further away, the higher the value.
Distance creates excitement.
Pleasure in the late Edo period is always "one step away."
Next, Kabuki.
Is that a play?
No.
It is an exaggeration of emotion held back.
Stop before crying.
Accumulate before getting angry.
Fit into a mold just before exploding.
The viewing side is the same.
You know.
You can read ahead.
Even so, you wait.
── Being made to wait is fun in itself.
In the late Edo period, people learn.
"Endurance can be staged."
Shunga?
That is not just a picture.
It is a training tool for the imagination.
They don't draw everything.
Hide.
Omit.
Create a gap.
The viewer fills it in on their own.
They play the continuation in their head.
── Here you realize.
Imagination lasts longer than the real thing.
Ero in the late Edo period is a brain-resident type.
Once it catches fire, it smolders forever.
"Iki" and "Yabo."
This distinction is also completely masochism.
"Don't say it directly," "guess," "make a face of composure."
── This feeling is still alive and well today.
If you show too much, it's yabo.
If you want too much, it's yabo.
If you are impatient, it's yabo.
A face that is enduring.
Pretending to have composure.
Making it look like you have no desire.
── This is iki.
In other words, the technique of not showing desire becomes the ranking.
In the late Edo period, people compete.
Who can enjoy endurance the most?
Poor.
Many regulations.
Little freedom.
That is precisely why they take time.
Spend money.
Take the long way around.
A shortcut is vulgar.
A straight line is yabo.
The detour is sexiness.
Endurance itself becomes entertainment.
If I were to describe the masochism of the late Edo period in one word, it is this.
"A culture that fully savors the state of not being satisfied"
Suffering is not an enemy.
Endurance is not asceticism.
── It is a hobby.
You can laugh at yourself for enduring.
You can be proud of yourself for suppressing.
You can feel like you won by not releasing.
Here, Japanese masochism is perfected.
It is not pleasure from being hit.
It is not being great for enduring.
You savor the state of enduring itself.
If I were to summarize early modern masochism in one line, it is this.
Azuchi-Momoyama: Hitting all at once
Early Edo: Tightening bit by bit
Late Edo: Enjoying being tightened── A perfect evolution.Moreover, this hell looks elegant.Quiet, orderly, and cultural.That is why no one says it is "strange."This is the most dangerous part.The early modern period is an era where endurance became personality evaluation.Person who can endure = trusted.Person who cannot endure = child.Person who doubts endurance = cannot read the room.Thus, the Japanese come to bind themselves and call that binding "normal."Please rest assured.This is not a story of the past.Take time.Don't say it directly.Hide your true feelings.Make endurance a virtue.── Everything is perfected here.Early modern masochism is not intense, not flashy, but lasts a lifetime.This is the final form of Japanese hell.The next era.In the modern and contemporary periods, this system is further rationalized, digitized, and internalized.Instead of not being hit, you corner yourself.Please rest assured.Hell still continues.Moreover, it becomes increasingly comfortable to live in.── The general history of Japanese masochism is not over yet.
Final Chapter | Summary of Early Modern Masochism
── An era where endurance became "normal"
What was the early modern period?
From Azuchi-Momoyama to the late Edo period.
In this era, the Japanese finally perfected masochism as a system.
There is no longer a need to be hit.
There is no need to be bound.
There is not even a need to be yelled at.
── Because it became natural to endure on your own.
Azuchi-Momoyama was an instant.
A parade of flashiness, blood, rising up, and betrayal.
Both the one hitting and the one being hit are sprinting at full speed.
Short-term decisive battle type pleasure.
Flashy, immediate, and no hard feelings.
But it does not last long.
The body cannot handle this stimulation.
So Edo comes.
Early Edo.
Here, Japan decides to change direction boldly.
No more hitting.
Tighten.
No drawing swords.
Status is fixed.
Rules increase.
Unreasonableness becomes daily life.
Moreover, what is scary is that it is spoken of as "good."
Person who can endure = admirable.
Person who can obey = adult.
Person who does not show greed = has class.
── Yes, a mass production system for hell.
What is important here is that no one is saying "suffer."
They are just being told "it is correct to do so."
At this point, masochism becomes unconscious.
You feel pain, but you don't have doubts.
You have dissatisfaction, but you don't speak it out.
And the late Edo period.
Finally, the Japanese cross the line.
They begin to enjoy endurance.
Many prohibitions.
Little freedom.
It costs money and time.
── That is precisely why it burns.
Not satisfied immediately.
Cannot touch immediately.
Not rewarded immediately.
This "not immediately" becomes pleasure.
Yoshiwara.
Kabuki.
Shunga.
Iki and yabo.
Everything has the same structure.
Don't go directly. Go around. Accumulate.
Don't show desire.
Make a face of composure.
Feel somewhat proud of yourself for enduring.
Here, Japanese masochism is perfected.
It is not pleasure from being hit.
It is not being great for enduring.
You savor the state of enduring itself.
If I were to summarize early modern masochism in one line, it is this.
Azuchi-Momoyama: Hitting all at once
Early Edo: Tightening bit by bit
Late Edo: Enjoying being tightened
── A perfect evolution.
Moreover, this hell looks elegant.
Quiet, orderly, and cultural.
That is why no one says it is "strange."
This is the most dangerous part.
The early modern period is an era where endurance became personality evaluation.
Person who can endure = trusted.
Person who cannot endure = child.
Person who doubts endurance = cannot read the room.
Thus, the Japanese come to bind themselves and call that binding "normal."
Please rest assured.
This is not a story of the past.
Take time.
Don't say it directly.
Hide your true feelings.
Make endurance a virtue.
── Everything is perfected here.
Early modern masochism is not intense, not flashy, but lasts a lifetime.
This is the final form of Japanese hell.
The next era.
In the modern and contemporary periods, this system is further rationalized, digitized, and internalized.
Instead of not being hit, you corner yourself.
Please rest assured.
Hell still continues.
Moreover, it becomes increasingly comfortable to live in.
── The general history of Japanese masochism is not over yet.
Next Preview | Modern Period
Next time, we will start from the modern period.
Meiji, Taisho, Showa.
When the West flowed in, the state bloated, ideals were raised, and the individual was invented.
The reason to martyr oneself is no longer God or a lord.
The basis for endurance is no longer just tradition or status.
── "For the country"
── "For the future"
── "For everyone"
Suffering becomes a mission.
Effort becomes a moving story.
Sacrifice is respected.
Enduring becomes "guts," obeying becomes "responsibility," and staying silent becomes "adult attitude."
There is no self-awareness of being bound by someone.
Rather, people begin to think like this.
"I am choosing it myself"
"I am working hard of my own will"
"This is growth"
── This is the hell of the modern period.
The general history of Japanese masochism changes decisively in this era.
It is not falling by being hit.
It is not falling by being convinced.
An era of "volunteering to fall" begins.
Meiji.
Ideals and duties rush in at the same time.
"Don't fall behind," "catch up," "make the country strong."
Those who do not make an effort become a shame.
Taisho.
Freedom and the individual begin to be talked about.
But freedom comes as a set with responsibility.
Worry. Think. Choose.
── Once you choose, it is all your own fault.
Showa.
Endurance is mass-produced as a moving story.
Stories of enduring, stories of working hard, stories of not being rewarded.
Even so, the figure of standing up is considered noble.
Suffering is completely converted to positive.
Even tragedy is processed into emotion.
Suffering with a reason can be proud.
Sacrifice with meaning cannot be denied.
Correct effort cannot be stopped.
The modern period is an era where "humans could no longer survive unless they liked the self that is suffering."
── The hell from here on becomes even more ingenious.
You are not yelled at.
You are not bound.
But you cannot rest.
You stand up even if you are not hit.
You work hard even if you are not praised.
You tell yourself "it had meaning" even if you are not rewarded.
Please rest assured.
This hell is very positive.
There is hope, there is growth, there is a dream.
That is precisely why it is the hardest to escape.
Next time, modern period.
To an era where the Japanese "made suffering their identity."
── Hell is finally internalized.
🔗Related Links ── Order to Start Reading
🪞Introduction to Masochism: A Guide to Reading Masochism
── A gateway to the world of masochism. A beginner's guide that gently explains the foundational philosophy of the M perspective.
Strata of the Masochist: Freedom Lies at the Bottom of the Void (Table of Contents)
── Shame, loneliness, guilt, dependence, worthlessness, approval, fear, and attachment. A theory of perversion that peels back the emotions plastered onto the heart and dives deep.
Genesis of Masochism: Why Humanity 'Kneels to Pleasure' (Table of Contents)
── A comprehensive table of contents for a series on civilization theory that interprets human history through the act of 'kneeling,' from the dawn of civilization to the present day.
Feeling Masochism: The Pleasure Philosophy of the Five Senses and Extrasensory Perception (Table of Contents)
── A navigation guide for the entire series, summarizing the world of 'feeling' through the five senses and extrasensory perception.
Literary Pervert Encyclopedia: A Genealogy of Sex, Beauty, and Reason (Table of Contents)
── A 'Pervert Aesthetics Archive' that compiles a wide range of readings where eros, philosophy, and the theory of perverted culture spiral together.
#CreativeAward2026 #AllCategoriesDivision