Ihara Saikaku
In Edo-period Japan, adolescent boys were considered as suitable objects of erotic desire for young women, older women, and older men (as long as the latter played an active sexual role). Age was an important, but not crucial aspect of "wakashu". Thus, older men could sometimes adopt the appearance and manners of wakashu. This was the case particularly for male prostitutes, who would not be considered as a suitable object of homoerotic desire for older men ("wakashūdo" or "shūdo") after reaching adulthood. In 1685 the shogunate reportedly cracked down on the so-called "o-wakashu" (senior youths) who delayed their coming-of-age ceremony until their middle 20s. One of the stories in "The Great Mirror of Male Love" by Ihara Saikaku features a samurai "wakashu" in his 60s.