The samurai were powerful warriors in Japanese history that dominated politics and society from the 12th to 19th centuries. They followed a strict code of honor and ethics. The tradition of shudo involved relationships between older samurai mentors and their younger apprentices, which was intended to teach virtue and was considered a cultural norm. However, with the influence of Westernization in the 19th century, traditions like shudo began to disappear as Japan modernized.

1. Sex and the Samurai

12. Shudo can be most gently explained as accepted and encouraged homosexuality

16. Shudo in art

17. A Modern artistic view on Shudo, Shudo itself has died but it’s general idea of homosexuality still lives on although its more restricted then the past.