• QAC on YouTube
  • QAC on Tumblr
Queer As Cat

gender・ sexuality・ race ・intersectionality

  • Home
  • About
    • About QAC
    • About Vesper
  • Photos
    • Instagram
    • Tokyo Rainbow Pride
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
  • Resources
    • Asexual POC Resources
    • #LGBTQIA in Japan
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
    • About QAC
    • About Vesper
  • Photos
    • Instagram
    • Tokyo Rainbow Pride
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
  • Resources
    • Asexual POC Resources
    • #LGBTQIA in Japan
  • Contact

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to the QAC blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. :)

Twitter

My Tweets

Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username
  • Japan[ese],  Q&A

    Q&A: “I showed a friend your post about how to say you’re nonbinary in Japanese, but he’s a demiboy…”

    July 17, 2017 / No Comments

    anonymous said: I showed a friend your post about how to say you’re nonbinary in Japanese, but he’s a demiboy and there wasn’t anything for demiboys specifically on the list. I was trying to figure out what would work (barring katakana), and I came up with 半男、やや男、and 男の一種. Which of these would be better (or is there already a Japanese term?) (re: this post) sorry for taking so long to respond to your ask! i’m afraid that i haven’t come across a Japanese equivalent (or even approximate) to “demiboy” (or to demigenders in general). the closest thing that i can think of is the commonly used: FtMよりのXジェンダー / FtM yori no x-gender /(an) FtM-ish non-binary (person) 男よりのXジェンダー / otoko yori no x-gender /(a) mannish non-binary (person) ………mmmm, yeah. *cough* as i said, these phrases are commonly used in Japanese, but your friend may not feel comfortable using them. understandably so. i would caution…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    gossip 〜 the first gay culture cafe in Tokyo

    August 24, 2016

    #TRP2015 準備完了

    April 25, 2015

    Snapchat rant #163

    July 2, 2016
  • [A]sexuality,  Japan[ese],  Q&A,  Queer[ness]

    Q&A: “I heard that “nonsexual” means non-aro ace and “asexual” means aro ace in Japan.”

    July 16, 2017 / 1 Comment

    anonymous said: I heard that “nonsexual” means non-aro ace and “asexual” means aro ace in Japan. I’m still confused about general Japanese terms in the ace community. If you don’t mind, could you please explain the most commonly used terms? hi, anon. you heard correctly, “asexual” (Aセクシャル) doesn’t mean what it means in English in Japan.

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    DIY ace flag, anyone?

    May 6, 2016

    QAC 34 – Distancing Yourself From Family

    February 16, 2015

    “love languages”?? communication tool.

    May 1, 2019
  • [A]sexuality,  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    Japanese gender / queer theory, anyone?

    May 22, 2017 / No Comments

    …so i randomly went to Book Off (used bookstore) today after work and happened to find two used books on gender studies / gender theory that not only ① explicitly discuss binarism and how society ignores those who are neither of the binary genders (male / female) nor either of the binary sexualities (gay / straight)– there’s also ② explicit mention of asexuality and the alphabet soup where the acronym LGBTIAQ is used and I is defined as “Intersex”, A as “Asexual” and Q as “Queer”. notably, these books were published in ① 2013 & ② 2006 and are original works by Japanese authors rather than books imported into Japan and translated into Japanese. below are super rough (because i’m starving, exhausted and need to go to bed damnit) English translations for the above snippets.

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    🎬 QAC 79 – The Neverending Queer-y: My Queer Ace Journey || LGBT YouTube & COPPA

    January 4, 2020

    Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2017: ACES & ENBIES

    May 15, 2017

    identity politics leave little room for agency; a thought.

    July 21, 2017
  • [A]sexuality,  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    on the discrepancy between “asexual” in English & Japanese and confusion regarding demisexuality.

    May 12, 2017 / 2 Comments

    if you’re unfamiliar with ace terminology in Japanese, it may come as some surprise to you to know that Aセクシャル / アセクシャル, the Japanese word that is phonetically equivalent to and derived from the English word “asexual”, does not mean what “asexual” means in English. while it is used at times as an umbrella term to refer to all aces, it’s often used both by aces and non-aces alike to refer specifically to what English speakers now commonly refer to as “aromantic asexuals”– or rather, people who experience neither sexual nor romantic attraction. Japanese speakers use a different word entirely to refer to people who do not experience sexual attraction but who do experience romantic attraction: ノンセクシャル, a word that is phonetically equivalent to and derived from the English word “nonsexual”… despite the fact that word means something entirely different in English. as this linguistic and cultural discrepancy is something that affects me personally not…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    AskAPan Week 07 – Family responses to the LGBTQ community

    July 5, 2013

    botched allyship & language barriers #TRP2017

    May 11, 2017

    QAC 18 – Queer: More Than Sexuality & Gender Identity?

    October 12, 2013
  • [A]sexuality,  Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    botched allyship & language barriers #TRP2017

    May 11, 2017 / No Comments

    ie. that time when a women’s sex toy store promoted much needed awareness of diversity at Tokyo Rainbow Pride, but due to incredibly poor research on their part as well as a language barrier that is not their fault, inadvertently ended up spreading damaging misinformation about intersex people, polysexuality and ‘skoliosexuality’, among other things. and of course i kind of went off on Twitter about it because that’s what i do when i’m not going off about something on Tumblr instead. like every year, Love Piece Club, a very well known Tokyo-based shop and website for women, had a booth at Tokyo Rainbow Pride this year. at past Prides that i’ve been to (both in and outside of Tokyo) they have been one of  (if not The) Only booth(s) selling miscellaneous small goods (badges, stickers, etc) in more than just rainbow flag colors. because of that, i know that they have…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    AskAPan Week 07 – Family responses to the LGBTQ community

    July 5, 2013

    commentary: “Where Is The Asexual Representation in LGBTQ Pride?”

    June 10, 2017

     “Things Asexual People Want You To Know” – BuzzFeed LGBT

    October 29, 2017
  • Japan[ese],  Q&A

    Q&A: “Could a fairly feminine looking person get away with boku?”

    March 2, 2017 / No Comments

    anonymous said: actually I’ve been wondering for awhile what “I” word you use in Japanese, I’ve been learning Japanese and just wondering as far as queer communities in Japan if they ever step out of the (w)atashi is for girls/neutral and boku/ore is for boys thing. Could a fairly feminine looking person get away with boku? just wondering about what the situation actually is surrounding those words usage. i don’t use any particular set of first person pronouns ( i / me / my / mine) because i’m not comfortable using any of them. rather, i use various different pronouns or no pronoun at all depending on the register i’m speaking in, the situation i’m in, who i’m speaking to, how i’m feeling that particular day at that particular time, etc etc. thankfully Japanese is a very flexible language when it comes to pronouns in general and doesn’t even require usage of…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    Ash Hardell’s “The ABC’s of LGBT+” in Japanese!

    November 25, 2017

    ?Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2017: Parade & Ace Meetup

    April 29, 2017

    landscapes and fissures: navigating ace terminology in Japanese & English

    June 1, 2018
  • Q&A

    Q&A: “I was wondering about gender neutrality in other languages.”

    January 23, 2017 / No Comments

    buffintruda said: I was wondering about gender neutrality in other languages. What pronouns do you use in Esperanto? Does ili work the same as they in English? Could you create new pronouns like ni or something? And what about some nouns like patro and patrino? Would a word like gepatro make sense or would it be easier to ungender it completely and not ever use the ino suffix for feminist reasons as well as nb ones? And in Japanese how easy is it to go completely ungendered by others since it doesn’t use pronouns as much as English. I’ve heard that using different formality levels of ‘I’ can make you sound more feminine or masculine so how would you recommend a female perceived nb to get by? (3/3)   re: Esperanto no, “ili” cannot be used as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun in Esperanto. trying to use “ili” in that way will only…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    “the ace community goes overboard with words?” i.e. word vomitted “nah”

    April 5, 2018

    Feedback: “I just wanted to thank you for your post on the alterous vs platonic thing…”

    February 23, 2016
  • Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    National Geographic: “Gender Revolution” (Japanese Edition)

    January 11, 2017 / No Comments

    just got the Japan edition of National Geographic’s special issue “Gender Revolution”. bearing in mind that i haven’t actually sat down and read through it yet, here are a few snaps along with my initial impression. prior to getting my hands on this magazine (and in fact, before it had even been released), i already had a general idea of what to expect based on snippets of featured articles that i’d come across online. plus, you know, the fact that it’s NatGeo. as such, i feel like there was never any chance of me being pleasantly surprised in any way, even though i’d set my expectations low to begin with. well, i’m glad i did, because i’m nitpicky as all hell. but we all already knew that. at a glance, there are some great things going on in this magazine, such as the increase in awareness of trans, intersex and non-binary…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    Ace & Non-binary Pride @Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2015 (04/26/15)

    May 10, 2015

    QAC 24 – Labels: Why They’re Important + Why I Use Them

    March 17, 2014

    QAC 47 –  Re: “Transitioning” in Japan / Body Mods & Dysphoria || Tea & Word Vomit

    February 28, 2016
  • [A]sexuality,  Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    Masaki’s QueerESL:  5 Things You Didn’t Know About LGBTQs in Japan / あなたが知らない日本のLGBTQの5つのこと

    December 21, 2016 / No Comments

      “Hate crime is nonexistent in Japan,” “Japan only recently started having pride marches,” “homosexuality is accepted in Japan because of the traditional male-male shudo sexual/romantic culture,” “Japanese media are LGBT-friendly,” and “Taiga Ishikawa is the first openly gay politician in Japan” are all false! ビデオの右下にある「CC」にクッリクすると日本語字幕が見えます。

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    QAC 66 – Split Attraction Model: Opting Out Of Romantic Orientations || Grayromantic | Asexual

    March 12, 2018

    QAC 50 – Biphobia x Non-Binary Erasure x Binarism || Bi Non-Binary People Exist

    June 12, 2016

    QAC 06 – Coming Out as a Panromantic Asexual

    June 1, 2013
  • [A]sexuality,  [Random] Thoughts,  Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    めんどくささレベル5強

    December 11, 2016 / 1 Comment

    one of my least favorite things to do is attempt to explain in Japanese to a (usually LGB) cisgender Japanese person that: 1. no, セクシャリティー / “”sexuality”“ is not the same thing as gender. they usually get it once i explain it, but it’s still ugh because that inevitably spills over into: 2. no, オネエ / “onee” and / or ニューハーフ / “newhalf” is not synonymous with “transgender” and then when i use the word トランスジェンダー / lit. “transgender” from English– because i refuse to use any of the other Japanese words available– the person i’m talking to automatically thinks of ニューハーフ / “newhalf” (if i’m lucky) even when i’m not talking specifically about women who happen to be trans. i hate how bothトランスジェンダー / transgender and 性同一性障害者 / people with gender identity disorder– the most common way to refer to trans people in general– seemingly always make people think…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    Re: Tokyo Ace Meetup

    April 5, 2015

    more Sailor Moon Crystal fanpersoning #SCREAMING

    May 17, 2016

    「私はゲイ」自分の言葉で、自分を語る / “I’m Gay” – Talking About Myself By Myself: Gay men talk about their own identity.

    May 6, 2016
1234

VESPER H.

YouTuber & Blogger

Queer As Cat is the blog and YouTube channel of Vesper, an American expat currently living in Japan.
reoccurring topics include: #asexuality, #nonbinary, #queerness #blackness & #mentalhealth

Subscribe

Stay up-to-date with notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • literal “social distancing” from the ace community April 1, 2020
  • legalized weed in America: one of many chips on my Black shoulder March 7, 2020
  • willpower, sweat, and tears January 30, 2020
  • 🎬 QAC 79 – The Neverending Queer-y: My Queer Ace Journey || LGBT YouTube & COPPA January 4, 2020
  • #YouTubeIsOverParty: COPPA & The Hypocrisy of YouTube December 15, 2019

Categories

Time Machine

Tags

ace anon aromantic asexual asexuality asks bi feedback gender gender identity genderqueer identity intersectionality intracommunity issues i rant when i'm tired japan LGBT lgbt in Japan LGBTQIA life in japan maverique me non-binary nonbinary in Japan opinion personal problematic things QPOC queer questioning random thoughts sexuality stuff i made terminology this has been a Vesper original this is my life tired Vesper is tired trans transgender vlog Xジェンダー youtube セクマイ 外人の目から見た日本 日本

Categories

Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Follow QAC

© Queer As Cat 2013 - 2025
 

Loading Comments...