was a Japanese

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, including both male–male and female–female attraction. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be tempor ...

fetish artist A fetish artist is a sculptor, illustrator, or painter who makes fetish art: art related to sexual fetishism and fetishistic acts. Fetish artists, 1930s–1990s * Charles Guyette * John Willie * Eric Stanton (a.k.a. John Bee, Savage, Stanten) * ...

. Hirano, along with

Go Mishima Tsuyoshi Yoshida (1924 – January 5, 1988), known by the pen name , was a Japanese homoerotic fetish artist and founder of the magazine . He is noted for his illustrations of "Bara (genre), macho-type" men, often with yakuza-inspired ''irezumi'' ...

, Sanshi Funayama, and Tatsuji Okawa, is regarded by artist and historian

Gengoroh Tagame is a pseudonymous Japanese manga artist. He is regarded as the most prolific and influential creator in the gay manga genre. Tagame began contributing manga and prose fiction to Japanese gay men's magazines in the 1980s, after making his deb ...

as a central figure in the first wave of contemporary gay artists in Japan.

Biography

Very little information is known about Hirano, as his works were submitted to his editors anonymously. His illustrations are noted for their realist art style, and often featured masculine men with

body hair Body hair or androgenic hair is terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty. It is different from head hair and also from less visible vellus hair, which is much finer and lighter in color. Growth of androgenic hai ...

. In the 1960s, Hirano was published in , a

fetish magazine A fetish magazine is a type of magazine originating in the late 1940s which is devoted to sexual fetishism. The content is generally aimed at being erotic rather than pornographic. Fetish magazines are usually devoted to a specific fetish, such as ...

that published gay content alongside straight and lesbian content. His art appeared in ''

Barazoku was Japan's first commercially circulated gay men's magazine. It began publication in July 1971 by Daini Shobō's owner's son and editor , although before that, there had been ''Adonis'' and ''Apollo'', its extra issue, around 1960 serving as a ...

'', the first commercially circulated gay magazine in Japan, from the 1970s through the 1990s.

References

20th-century Japanese painters Fetish artists Japanese gay artists Gay male BDSM Japanese erotic artists Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Japan-artist-stub

Biography

See also

References