Sadao Hasegawa

Sadao Hasegawa (1945-1999) était un artiste de talent en art érotique gay. Pendant plus de vingt ans, il était l’illustrateur pour le magazine gay Barazoku. Il a mis fin à sa vie à l’âge de 54 ans dans un hôtel à Bangkok. Son dernier ouvrage est Paradise Visions (1996).




Sadao Hasegawa (1945-1999) is one of the Japan’s greatest homoerotic artists. His last published work was Paradise Visions in 1996. For more than twenty years, Hasegawa was a principal illustrator for Barazoku, Japan's preeminent publication for gay men. Sadly, he committed suicide in a Bangkok hotel room, at the age of 54.






Mr. Bunkagu Ito, editor in cheif of Barazoku magazine wrote about Sadao Hasegawa, several months after his death:

“Today, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. In the section of Tokyo, known as Kudan, stands the mighty Yasukini shrine. Directly in from of the shrine is the Maruyama Gallery. It is here, that the opening ceremonies for a show of works by Sadao Hasegawa are being held. From a window in the gallery, a clear view of the Indian Embassy is visible. It was in India, that the birth of Buddha took place. Perhaps, the two masters are eternally inseparable.



There is little doubt that like Buddha, Sadao Hasegawa, had attained complete enlightenment - at least in creation of his art. Upon close study, Sadao's drawings transcend the level of pornography, emulating likenesses found in Buddhist art. This theory is most evident in Hasegawa's rendering of a young man sitting on the pedestal of a lotus flower.

As a young artist, Sadao was most influenced by the drawings of Goh Mishima and Tom of Finland. In 1989, upon the death of Mishima, Hasegawa wrote and article for Barazoku, in which he declares ‘Goh Mishima, a master illustrator of the male physique’.





Over the years, the style of Sadao Hasegawa has undergone major transformations. In 1978, the year he first came to Barazoku, Sadao's drawings were reflective of European society. A style, Hasegawa claimed, inspired by the wartime works of Tom of Finland.

It wasn't until the 1980's, when Sadao began making frequent trips to Bali and Thailand, that he devoted himself to the teachings of Buddha. It is art juxtaposed with life that produced the images of Hasegawa's later years. These works are most familiar to us today.”










Son univers peut être très étrange avec des scènes de sévices sexuels du héros mâle nu par des monstres ou des divinités barbares.

Sadao Hasegawa's universe can be very strange made of monsters or divinities fucking and brutalising the naked male hero.






Source : Jeune’s Asian Art.