Stemming from a conference of the same title which took place on 8 to 9 December 2005 at Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa, Israel, this publication is a collection of articles by leading researchers in the fields of gender studies, visual culture and performance studies in Japan. An exhibition was also held from September 2005 to January 2006.

'[...] Articles in this volume discuss fundamental issues in relation to body, sexuality, gender, and their respective representations in the visual field. The volume contains texts considering gender and temporality in Takashi Murakami's superflat dimension; gender issues in relation to male pregnancy, motherhood and the family as represented in Hiroko Okada, Mako Idemitsu, Miwako Ishiuchi and Yasumasa Morimura's works; sexual identity of the otaku, and sexual representations in manga and anime; sexual organ depictions in the contemporary Japanese art and photography of Yayoi Kusama, Ryudai Takano, Yurie Nagashima, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Makoto Saito's advertisements; literary representations of hermaphrodites in Tokuda Shusei's Arakure and fictional genders in Kachikujin Yapu; the history of prostitution and Bubude la Madeliene and Yoshiko Shimada's performance art; a Buddhist reading of Yoko Ono's Cut Piece; gender passing and masquerade in Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata's Butoh; and gender issues in Duras/ Rennais' Hiroshima mon amour. The contributors include leading researchers and curators such as Jennifer Robertson, Michiko Kasahara, Tamaki Saito, Maki Isaka, Bracha Ettinger and others.' (Back cover of the book)