Japan[ese],  Mental [Un]health,  Q&A,  Queer[ness]

Q&A: “In your experience, does the culture in Japan label asexuals as “otaku”, “shut-ins”, or with mental illness?”

anonymous said:

In your experience, does the culture in Japan label asexuals as “otaku”, “shut-ins”, or with mental illness? Or is there not as much discrimination as there is in the asian-american community?

i can’t compare Japanese culture to those of Asian American communities because i’m not Asian American myself, so i can’t comment on what happens within Asian American communities.

having said that, in my experience, asexuality is even less heard of in Japan than it is in America. since society for the most part doesn’t even know asexuality is a thing, i myself am not really out outside of LGBTQIA spaces and the majority of the Japanese aces that i know aren’t out outside of LGBTQIA spaces either, i have no experience with and haven’t heard of asexuals in Japan being labeled as such.

yes, there certainly is stigma towards “otaku”/オタク (which doesn’t mean the exact same thing in Japan as it does in America), “shut-ins”/ひきこもり and even overt discrimination in regards to mental illness (not that Japan is even conscious of mental illness, ugh, i digress), but i personally have never seen any connection drawn between those things and asexuality?

if anything, those things are much more tied to the idea of being “motenai”/モテない, which describes not being desirable / attractive / popular in a romantic / sexual way, often with the implication of not being single/a virgin because you want to be but because you’re undesirable / unattractive / unpopular. it’s likely that there are misconceptions about asexuals that also tie into that for some people.

this is all just my personal experience and opinion, though. i welcome anyone else out there to add to / comment on this.

日本でAセクの人はオタクやひきこもりや精神病の患者だと言われていますか。社会的に日本はAセクシャリティその性的指向の存在さえ知りませんので、言われてないかなぁって。でも、それは自分のわずかの経験だけのせいかもしれません… まあ、確かにAセクの人はモテないだけじゃない?っていう思い違いをしてる人は多分いますよね。

YouTuber and Blogger, Vesper is an American expat currently living in Japan.

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