Sadao Hasegawa

As a kid growing up in the Bunkyō area of Tokyo, I’d go to the local bookstore and pretend to browse for ‘Harry Potter’ and manga. In reality I was getting lost in the “Adults Only” section, finding my way to the gay erotica. It’s here where I first met one of Japan’s greatest homoerotic artists, Sadao Hasegawa. Now, I’m a 34-year-old with the same obsession — digging through old Japanese publications, re-discovering the rich, cum-dripped work of Hasegawa.

On 20 November 1999, Sadao Hasegawa was found dead in his Bangkok hotel room at the age of 54. As the tale goes, after Sadao’s passing his estranged family uncovered a treasure trove of explicit artworks in his Tokyo apartment. Shocked by paintings of phallic worship with beautiful men in divine, deity-like costumes, they disposed of the entire archive. Soon after, they discovered a note on the artist’s desk with a dying wish – his works should be managed by gallery owner Mr. Akimitsu Naruyama, an eccentric man Sadao met only a handful of times in his life. The family rushed back to the dump before it was too late. Thank the gay gods.

A self-taught artist, Sadao’s style is incredibly diverse. Sex scenes referencing Kabuki, Shunga and Buddhist philosophy. Bodybuilders in vivid psychedelic splendor, influenced by Southeast Asian and African mythology. In his lifetime, he contributed radiant cover art and horny drawings to many classic Japanese gay magazines, such as Barazoku and Samson, but refused to exhibit his work to the public beyond underground gay Japan. To this day he remains overlooked internationally.

Sadao’s work makes me feel ecstatic. I love it. His images take me to places where I want to be – a queer universe filled with lily pads, peacocks and boners. I see in his work an Asian gay nirvana. Picture an orgy of hundreds of naked men lulled by the moonlight, moaning. Or an intimate scene of two men embracing each other, at peace. For a Pride party I organized in Tokyo last June, Mr. Naruyama kindly opened Sadao’s archive to me. We hung his paintings on the walls, and his sketches were programmed into a lightshow. The party was heavenly – as if Sadao’s spirit swung by the club and said, bless! Sadao’s artwork pumps out an energy with staying power.