Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Q&A,  Queer[ness]

Q&A: “How do I tell someone I’m non-binary in Japanese?”

anonymous said:

How do I tell someone I’m non-binary in Japanese?

if you just want to say “i’m non-binary”, you could say:

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)Xジェンダーです。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) x-jendaa desu.
en: i’m non-binary.

note that the first part of the sentence is in parenthesis because in Japanese it’s common to drop the subject of the sentence, even though that isn’t the case in English.

that said, if you want to be more specific (and if any of these happen to describe you), you could also say something like:

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)無性です。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) musei desu.
en: i’m genderless / agender.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)中性です。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) chuusei desu.
en: i’m gender neutral /  an androgyne.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)両性です。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) ryousei desu.
en: i’m bigender / ambigender.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)不定性です。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) futeisei desu.
en: i’m genderfluid.

the above gender identities are relatively common among non-binary people in Japan. note that 中性 / chuusei can potentially translate into two different genders in English. i’d say it’s commonly used to mean androgyne within the non-binary community, but there’s also a strong association with gender neutrality because 中性的 / chuuseiteki is often used within society in general to mean unisex or gender neutral.

having said all that, just like when speaking English, the person you’re talking to may not be familiar with the above words. in that case, you might need or want to explain what being non-binary means for you.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)男性でも女性でもないです。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) dansei demo josei demo nai desu.
en: i’m neither male nor female.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)男性でも女性でもなく、性別はないです。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) dansei demo josei demo naku, seibetsu wa nai desu.
en: i’m neither male nor female. i have no gender.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)男性と女性の間の性です。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) dansei to josei no aida no sei desu.
en: my gender is in between male and female.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)男性でもあり女性でもある性です。
jp: (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) dansei demo ari josei demo aru sei desu.
en: i’m both male and female.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)  男性でも女性でもなく、ある性別の間に性自認が変わります
jp:(ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) dansei demo josei demo naku, aru seibetsu no aida ni seijinin ga kawarimasu.
en: i’m neither male nor female, my gender identity changes from gender to gender.

日: (俺・僕・私・自分は)  男性でも女性でもなく、 いずれも全く関係ない性です。
jp:  (ore / boku / watashi / jibun wa) dansei demo josei demo naku, izuremo mattaku kankei nai sei desu.
en: i’m neither male nor female. my gender is completely unrelated to either of those genders.

……..and i totally took this relatively simple ask and ran away with it. oh well. hopefully it helps you, anon. either way, this post is officially my *points at this* post for future asks. lol


08.26.2017 edit: added the pronoun 俺 / ore by request.

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

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