WHINGE: navigating セクマイ stuff
…i’d normally limit this to a few whingey tweets on Twitter, but since dad is currently snooping around my social media accounts… might as well be thoroughly whingey on here.
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adventures in Japanese TV: “haafu”
aaahhh, more annoying Japanese TV. despite what i said (in Japanese) while letting off steam livetweeting on Twitter, i know it’s not fair of me to expect anyone, let alone this guy (Jun Soejima, an actor / “talent” btw), to react any certain way or educate the people around him on behalf of other black people in Japan. i really don’t actually expect that or anything else of him, despite my whining, but it does admittedly annoy me when people on Japanese TV just laugh off some really shitty, problematic stuff that people say or do to them, be it re: racial issues, trans issues, or anything else. they’re in a difficult situation and have all kind of things to consider when they react to something, whereas i can huff and puff at the TV saying all the choice words i like without consequence. i get that…. but meh. it was…
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Random Stuff Going On In Japan: Sept – Oct 2016
Ace Spec Japan Meetup Ace Spec Japan, a LINE-based group for aces in Japan, will be having its next meetup in Chiba on Sunday, September 18th, 2016! see our new (and still under construction) WordPress blog for details! (Kansai) Rainbow Festa Rainbow Festa (aka Kansai Rainbow Parade) will be held in Ogimachi Park, Osaka on Saturday, October 8th, 2016. for more information, see the official website. Yokohama Diversity Parade Yokohama Diversity Parade (aka Yokohama Rainbow Festa) will be held again this year at the Osanbashi International Terminal in Yokohama on Saturday, October 15th, 2016. last year Yokohama hosted its first Pride and this year Yokohama will be its first Parade! see the official website for more information. i’ll be at the Ace Spec Japan meetup, of course, but i can’t make Kansai Pride (going to forever call it that because they keep renaming it ffs) again due to work… i really…
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gossip 〜 the first gay culture cafe in Tokyo
the-shynamites: 今月末に閉店しちゃうらしいです ？？？？ マジか？うっわ、やっばい。マジだ… 2週間前に行ってホンマに良かった… (｡ŏ﹏ŏ) so apparently Gossip, the first LGBT cafe in Tokyo which opened its doors in 2010, will be closing August 31st, 2016… the cafe’s owner, Takita-san, has posted a message in Japanese and English on the cafe’s website… ah, this news makes me really sad…. Gossip is where i’d always go when in Tokyo when i wanted to connect with the local LGBT scene without going to Ni Chome, which has always felt much less accessible to me as someone who doesn’t like bars or clubs… Gossip was where i could casually read LGBT books and magazines over cake or falafel, it’s where LGBT gatherings would be hosted… it was the first LGBT place that i went to in Japan. ahhh, i’m sad….. really sad. i’m glad that i went there 2 weeks ago, but wish i had known then that it’d be my last time going…
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Q&A: “I was wondering if you know of any articles or websites about what it’s like being ace in Japan…”
anonymous said: Hi there….I was wondering if you know of any articles or websites about what it’s like being ace in Japan (especially from the perspective of any ace people who are natively Japanese). I’m just interested in reading people’s experiences, where they learned about asexuality, etc. I tried searching google, but so much acephobic garbage came up that I had to finally shut down my browser. D: aside from the things that @harris-hijiri writes, which aren’t necessarily about the experience of being ace in Japan, i’m afraid that i don’t know of personal writing on being ace in Japan as a Japanese person that’s written in English. i tried searching for some, but i swear if i come across another article on herbivore men or ‘the japanese sex/population crisis’ written from a Western-centric point of view i’m going to throw my laptop out the goddamn window. everything that i could…
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ARTICLE: “Why Transgender People In Japan Prefer To Be Told They Have A “Disorder””
content warning: pathologization / medicalization of being trans; non-binary erasure; death mention (below) while i don’t agree with everything in this article (from how things are presented or worded to more factual things), this article is still representative of the sad truth that i’m continually navigating as a non-binary person in Japan. from the way that trans people themselves here actively embrace and rally behind Gender Identity Disorder (GID) not only as a medical condition but as an identity to how pathologized & medicalized literally everything surrounding being trans is here and how that can make things especially difficult for non-binary / Xジェンダー people, even when interacting with people in the trans community which is full of transmedicalism. the blatant non-binary erasure (dare i say enbyphobia) demonstrated by the head of the largest trans / GID organization in this country illustrates that perfectly in this article. “I reject the notion of…
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story time: when “African” is more important than “American”
a former coworker (W) and i were in Tokyo today at Sensoji, a major tourist trap in Asakusa that’s in every foreign EVERY guidebook ever. a place that i generally avoid except i was playing tour guide for the day. i was off somewhere snapchatting, as i do, and when i came back to where W was there was a random middle-aged Japanese man excitedly talking to him about where he was from (Colorodo). i’m standing there for a minute or two half listening to their convo while taking random photos, as i also do, when the man realizes that i’m with the guy he’s trying to chat up in broken English. he decides to do the same with me, except… man: ooh, where are you from? me: Las Vegas. man: no, where?? me: Las Vegas…? America…? *confused as people generally know Las Vegas* man: no no, where are you from long…
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『[4ｺﾏ]☆Ｘジェンダー☆』
…sigh. you know, i really want to be happy about these LGBTQIA 4-koma comics that Chii is doing to try and help raise awareness for lesser known genders and sexualities, but gah. i just can’t. because i suck. the linked comic that went up a couple days ago about Xジェンダー / non-binary is the last one i’m going to whinge over, i swear. for now. but first, an English translation of the comic to give context to my whinging. What’s “X-gender”? Xジェンダー (X-gender) people who, without deciding between “male” or “female”, take the stance or identity of being neither gender. referred to as “MtX” if designated “male” at birth and “FtX” if designated “female” at birth, however also referred to simply as “X” when not wanting to refer to one’s designated gender at birth. there are many definitions, but it goes something like this. red and white*: i want to be between male and female.…
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Q&A: “I have a question regarding the Japanese use of the terms asexual and nonsexual…”
anonymous post: I have a question regarding the Japanese use of the terms asexual and nonsexual. Is asexual generally used by all aces on the aromantic spectrum or do arospec aces who sometimes feel romantic attraction (such as grey aromantics) typically prefer to use nonsexual? I’d like to get more involved with the ace community when I (hopefully) move to Japan, but I feel like the Japanese terminology doesn’t even let me describe myself… (re: this post) bearing in mind that everything i’m about to say is based entirely on my own limited experience and observation… i can count the number of times i’ve met or heard of a Japanese person actively identifying in some way as gray or demi on one hand. generally speaking, awareness of nuanced ace & aro spectrum identities / orientations is hardly a thing among Japanese aces. the only time i hear any explicit mention of…
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『[4ｺﾏ]☆ＡセクシュアルとAce(エース)☆』
once again i randomly came across another one of Chii’s 4-koma comic strips about asexuality on Twitter and my reaction to seeing it has me feeling guilty and torn. ;( for those who don’t speak Japanese, the comic introduces the term “ace” (slang for “asexual”) to Japanese readers and then explains how it’s connected to aces in playing cards. it also introduces readers to the concept / association that’s been floating around English-speaking ace communities of each suite being associated with specific orientations / identities. in the comic, it’s explained as: ace of hearts: romantic asexuals (known as “nonsexuals” in Japan) ace of spades: aromantic asexuals (known as “asexuals” in Japan) ace of diamonds: demisexuals and demiromantic asexuals ace of clubs: gray asexuals and grayromantic asexuals before i start ranting going on and on about ‘nothing’, i want to point out that i’m happy that “ace” is being introduced here in Japanese. no conflicting feelings there.…
