Tales of Idolized Boys: Male-Male Love in Medieval Japanese Buddhist Narratives is a book about chigo written by Sachi Schmidt-Hori. It was published by the University of Hawaii Press in 2021.
Contents The book begins by explaining how the power dynamics of Shmidt-Hori's mother with her clients at a Kabukichō hostess club she worked at first influenced her into studying chigo tales. The book contain analyses of six of such tales, which she conducted through a historical and sociocultural perspective.
The book examines the dynamics of power, social status and age in medieval Japan. It also reviews the academic literature on chigo tales published after 1950.
Reception Margaret H. Childs wrote on Monumenta Nipponica that the book "takes the field [of chigo studies] far beyond previous interpretative work done in English by myself and others".
Sachiko Kawai, writing on the The Journal of Japanese Studies, described the book as " strong and special".
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