ORIGINAL ARTICLE Sexuality and Sense of Self in Later Life: Japanese Men’ s and Women’ s Reflections on Sex and Aging Katrina L. Moore Published online: 2 May 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract The aim of this article is to provide a nuanced analysis of the transformation of sexuality that occurs with age. Drawing on several ethnographic narratives of married men and women over the age of 60 in Japan, this article provides insight into gender-specific experiences of marital sexuality, the impact of extra-marital sexual activity on marital relationships, and the development of “sibling-like” relationships as couples grow older. It also highlights the continuing importance of sexual desire in later life, especially to men’ s sense of self. This article contributes to the growing scholarship on the sexuality of older persons around the world and makes a case for the importance of the life history interview as a methodology for illuminating the complex relationship between gender, sexuality, and aging. Keywords Aging . Desire . Gender . Infidelity . Japan . Sexuality Introduction: Sexuality in Later Life Over the past two decades, there has been a significant rise in research on the sexuality of older persons (Schiavi 1999; Schill et al. 1994; Katz and Marshall 2003; Shea 2005). The reasons for this increase include the worldwide rise in the number of elderly, the rise in incidence of STDs among older persons, and increased debates about the rights of the elderly to sustain a sexual life into old age, a debate driven in part by the pharmaceutical industry’ s interest in marketing drugs for sexual dysfunction (Marshall 2002; Tiefer 2007). Considerable academic, especially medical, interest has centered on documenting the extent to which older men and women remain sexually active (Marsiglio and Greer 1994:129). More recent studies (Laumann et al. 2006:146) have expanded the research focus to explore subjective sexual wellbeing, that is, feelings of satisfaction with the emotional aspects of sexual relationships, and sexual functioning in late life. J Cross Cult Gerontol (2010) 25:149–163 DOI 10.1007/s10823-010-9115-9 K. L. Moore (*) Sociology and Anthropology Program, School of Social Sciences and International Studies, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia e-mail: katrina.moore@unsw.edu.au