a b c d Ishii, Anne; Kidd, Chip; Kolbeins, Graham, eds. (December 18, 2014). Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It. Fantagraphics. p.277. Hasegawa's Alchemism-Meditation for 1973 in Tokyo, Japan. Presents oil painting, collages, drawings and sculptures.

Though it was initially instituted as a way for queer relationships to mirror the power dynamics inherent to any heterosexual relationship that exists in a patriarchal society, it has since been weaponized against the queer community. Used to insist queerness is inherently related to pedophilia and separate the younger members from the older. Sadao Hasegawa was born in 1945 in the Tōkai region of Japan. There's no info on whether he had an art education, yet it's known that he started traveling in his twenties, which shaped the artist's approach and the range of themes in his vivid images. Moreover, it seems his exotic experience of visiting India eventually made him take up drawing. Already in 1973, his first solo exhibition, Sadao Hasegawa's Alchemism: Meditation for 1973, was held in Tokyo, presenting oil paintings, collages, drawings, and sculptures. Curiously, the first one-man exposition happened five years before Hasegawa's first appearance in Barazoku gay magazine. Later, the artist would publish his works in a number of other Japanese gay periodicals like Sabu, Samson, and Adon. This is a slightly revised version of an essay published in From The End of the Pacific War, Reappraisals, edited by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa , (c) 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. All rights reserved. No further reproduction or distribution is allowed without the prior written permission of the publisher, www.sup.org. Posted at Japan Focus on August 17, 2007. When the atomic bomb was dropped, I felt: “This is terrible.” Immediately thereafter, it was reported Soviet Russia entered the war. This made me feel: “This has really become a very difficult situation.” Baron is pleased to present the first posthumous book by Japanese artist Sadao Hasegawa (Jan 1945- Nov 1999), dedicated to Hasegawa’s rarely- published archive.Though the relationship mentioned there was between a twenty-four-year-old and a forty-year-old, this dynamic has been pushed to justify bigger and smaller age gaps. It must be recognized in these discussions that any age gap between two adult queer people is acceptable. The aggression that exists towards these relationships is a form of homophobia. That being said, that should not shut down informed and nuanced discussions around why age gaps are sometimes glorified and glamorized within queer media and community. Sadao Hasegawa ( 長谷川 サダオ, Hasegawa Sadao) (1945-1999) was a Japanese graphic artist known for creating homoerotic fetish art, which often involved bondage and SM. Biography Hasegawa is regarded as one of the most influential creators of homoerotic art in Japan. Bungaku Itō, the founding editor of Barazoku, described Hasegawa's art as "transcend[ing] the level of pornography, emulating likenesses found in Buddhist art." [2] Despite this, Hasegawa's artwork has received limited exposure in Japan, with only a single monograph – Paradise Visions, published in 1996 by Kochi Studio – having been published domestically. [6]

Thus, it is fair to conclude that the Nagasaki bomb and, for that matter, the two bombs combined, did not have a decisive influence on Japan’s decision to surrender. Remove the Nagasaki bomb, and Japan’s decision would have been the same. Another piece of evidence on which Asada’s and Frank’s argument is constructed is Prime Minister Suzuki’s statement. According to Asada, on the night of August 8, Suzuki told Sakomizu: “Now that we know it was an atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, I will give my views on the termination of the war at tomorrow’s Supreme War Council.”[20] After the war, Suzuki made another statement: “The atomic bomb provided an additional reason for surrender as well as an extremely favorable opportunity to commence peace talks.” From these statements, Asada concludes: “The hitherto vacillating and sphinx-like Suzuki had finally made up his mind. It is important to note that Suzuki did so before he was informed of the Soviet entry into the war early on the following day.”[21] The belief that younger queer men are inherently more beautiful, joyful, or have more potential does direct harm to older queer men. Beauty, joy, and potential do not fade with age. Sadao Hasegawa 1978–1983. (n.d.). Tokyo Art Beat. Retrieved July 28, 2021, from https://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2014/8F6D N2 - For Gengoroh Tagame, Japan’s most recognized and influential contemporary gay erotic artist and critic, Sadao Hasegawa (1945-1999) was “the most representative of Japan’s gay artists.” With a career spanning the 1970s to 1990s, Hasegawa’s rich and expansive oeuvre of erotic and experimental art immensely influenced the practices of several of Japan and Asia’s most prominent queer artists. His vivid style – stretching from realist studies of Caucasian and Japanese bodybuilders to highly stylized and experimental celebrations of Southeast Asian masculinities and cultures – continues to inspire artists in Japan to this day. It would not be a stretch to argue that, along with Tagame himself, Hasegawa remains one of postwar Japan’s most prominent gay erotic artists.

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There is no evidence to indicate that the Hiroshima bomb immediately and directly induced either the Japanese government as a whole or individual members, including Togo, Suzuki, Kido, and Hirohito, to terminate the war by accepting the terms of the Potsdam Proclamation. Japan could wait until Moscow’s reaction before it would decide on the Potsdam terms. Hasegawa cited Go Mishima and Tom of Finland among his influences, calling the former "a master illustrator of the male physique" in an obituary written in 1989 for Barazoku. His early works, directly inspired by Tom of Finland, reflected European art styles. Beginning in the late 1980s, Hasegawa began making regular trips to Bali and Thailand, resulting in a greater focus on Asian iconography and mythology in his art. Now that such a new weapon has appeared, it has become less and less possible to continue the war. We must not miss a chance to terminate the war by bargaining [with the Allied powers, Asada adds] for more favorable conditions now. Besides, however much we consult about [surrender, Asada adds] terms we desire, we shall not be able to come to an agreement. So my wish is to make such arrangements as will end the war as soon as possible.[15] As for Soviet entry into the war, the report of the Bureau of Military Affairs states: “Although the Soviet participation in the war was expected from the analysis of the general world situation, we did not anticipate the situation where we would have to fight on the two fronts from the point of view of the nation’s total power. Throughout we had decided to focus our major strategy on the homeland defense, while preparing to sacrifice the operations in the continental defense. Therefore, Soviet entry into the war did not directly affect our conviction that we would score victory in the decisive homeland battle.”[61] This is an ambiguous and contradictory statement. On the one hand, it states that Soviet participation in the war was unexpected, forcing Japan to fight on two fronts. On the other, it takes the view that the Ketsu Go strategy had already written off Manchuria, which did not substantially affect homeland defense. The latter conclusion seems to support Frank’s argument that since the Japanese Army had already written off Manchuria, Soviet entry into the war did not substantially change the army’s strategy of putting all its eggs in the one basket of the Ketsu Go strategy. The problem with this argument is that it ignores the assertion that Japan did not anticipate having to fight on two fronts.