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Queer As Cat

gender・ sexuality・ race ・intersectionality

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

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

    Q&A: “I was wondering if you know of any articles or websites about what it’s like being ace in Japan…”

    August 20, 2016 / No Comments

    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…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

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    #asexual pride shirt

    October 27, 2013

    「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

    QAC 04 – Why I Identify as Panromantic & Biromantic

    May 24, 2013
  • "Why Transgender People In Japan Prefer To Be Told They Have A "Disorder""
    [Random] Thoughts,  Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Mental [Un]health,  Queer[ness]

    ARTICLE: “Why Transgender People In Japan Prefer To Be Told They Have A “Disorder””

    August 17, 2016 / No Comments

    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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    Vesper H.

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    Sixty-six // Thirty-three

    December 22, 2018

    one of many reasons why “QUEER” means so much to me.

    September 23, 2016

    …mmm, decided there hasn’t been enough Calcifer on this blog, so here you go.

    November 20, 2017
  • 『[4コマ]☆Xジェンダー☆』
    [Random] Thoughts,  Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    『[4コマ]☆Xジェンダー☆』

    July 31, 2016 / No Comments

    …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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    Vesper H.

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    QAC 16.5 – Life Update: Japan & Channel Changes

    September 16, 2013

    my soon-to-be goblin

    September 12, 2017

    “too butch.”

    April 29, 2019
  • [A]sexuality,  Japan[ese],  Q&A,  Queer[ness]

    Q&A: “I have a question regarding the Japanese use of the terms asexual and nonsexual…”

    July 27, 2016 / No Comments

    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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    Vesper H.

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    one of many reasons why “QUEER” means so much to me.

    September 23, 2016

    Re: Tokyo Ace Meetup

    April 5, 2015

    QAC 48 – Non-Binary Gender Norms & (A)sexuality: Yeah, No.

    March 27, 2016
  • 『[4コマ]☆AセクシュアルとAce(エース)☆』
    [A]sexuality,  [Random] Thoughts,  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    『[4コマ]☆AセクシュアルとAce(エース)☆』

    July 27, 2016 / 1 Comment

    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.…

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    Vesper H.

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    landscapes and fissures: navigating ace terminology in Japanese & English

    June 1, 2018

    VICELAND – GAYCATION Episode 1: Japan

    March 3, 2016

    Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2015 (4/26/15)

    May 10, 2015
  • [Random] Thoughts,  Black[ness],  Japan[ese]

    Snapchat rant #457

    July 15, 2016 / No Comments

    …..in which i Snapchat rant about how uncomfortable / exasperating it is as a black person reading books etc with black characters in it to my young Japanese students. Tumblr forced me to upload the video externally because of the file size, so i put it on the QAC YouTube channel unlisted, but i don’t care if anyone shares it elsewhere. also, i swear me posting random, annoying Snapchat rants on here or on YouTube isn’t going to become a thing. i just have to share this last one. ;(

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    Vesper H.

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    パレードの皆さん、お疲れ

    April 26, 2015

    ARTICLE: “Why Transgender People In Japan Prefer To Be Told They Have A “Disorder””

    August 17, 2016

    missiles and tweets.

    August 28, 2017
  • 『[4コマ]☆ノンセクシュアル☆』
    [A]sexuality,  [Random] Thoughts,  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    『[4コマ]☆ノンセクシュアル☆』

    May 25, 2016 / 1 Comment

    …so this has been going around on Japanese Twitter. about to pass out, but wanted to put a link to this here with a little blurb reasonably-contained-imho rant for my own future reference because this is personally relevant to me.

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

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

    October 29, 2017

    『[4コマ]☆AセクシュアルとAce(エース)☆』

    July 27, 2016

    QAC 04 – Why I Identify as Panromantic & Biromantic

    May 24, 2013
  • [A]sexuality,  [Random] Thoughts,  Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2016 musings

    May 15, 2016 / No Comments

    a long and rather pointless post in which i write out some of my thoughts and experiences along with photos from last weekend’s Pride in Tokyo. this post is photo heavy. for more photos from TRP, see these posts: ☆ ace & nonbinary photos ☆ general photos warning: slurs, scantly clad men and mention of genitalia. this year i went to TRP on both Saturday and Sunday for the first time. while i’m glad i did, i’m really kicking myself in regards to how i did it. i ended up being ridiculously exhausted both days before i’d even boarded the train to Tokyo all because i called myself saving money by not booking myself and Yuki (my hedgehog) into a hotel so that i could spend the night in Tokyo. the result was 5 hrs/day of riding trains two days in a row. i’m still not recovered and this entire post is…

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    Vesper H.

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

    October 12, 2013

    “i am asexual”

    February 12, 2013

    custom shirt

    October 13, 2013
  • [A]sexuality,  Art[sy Fartsy],  Gender[queer],  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2016 (5/8/2016)

    May 14, 2016 / No Comments

    …somehow even though this year i went on both Saturday (5/7) & Sunday (5/8), i ended up with fewer (share-worthy) shots than last year because i was so busy doing stuff with people… also had to edit these photos mostly on my phone because i’m still in need of a new laptop. sigh! [/whining] anyway, Tokyo Rainbow Pride itself was better than ever this year, i think. a more asexual (/non-binary!) specific photoset and a (long) write-up about my TRP shenanigans will be posted shortly….

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

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    QAC 11 – Growing Up Ace (Asexual)

    July 21, 2013

    QAC 02 – The Road to Asexuality

    May 17, 2013

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

    May 12, 2017
  • 【動画 / VIDEO】「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.
    [A]sexuality,  Japan[ese],  Queer[ness]

    「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 / No Comments

    → also see: 「私はレズビアン。」”I’m a Lesbian” mirroring BuzzFeed Yellow’s “I’m ____, But I’m Not” series in English, BuzzFeed Japan has just released two videos in time for Tokyo Rainbow Week debunking various homophobic stereotypes and misconceptions about gay men and lesbians in Japan. for those who can understand Japanese, one thing that’s especially noteworthy about these videos are the differences and similarities between the homophobia mentioned in these videos and homophobia in the US and other western countries. personally, i love what BuzzFeed Japan did with these videos, more so than BuzzFeed Yellow’s. unlike in America, for example, i feel like for Japan, a country severely lacking in any and all LGBTQIA awareness, videos like these hold a lot more weight and mean all the more to the people they help. in America, it’s easier to take videos like BuzzFeed Yellow’s for granted. in Japan, i cannot even begin to convey the…

    continue reading
    Vesper H.

    You May Also Like

    Antiblackness and Binarism: Grindr in Japan

    January 6, 2018

    Studio Ghibli’s 『思い出のマーニー』 // “When Marnie Was There”

    August 11, 2014

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

    February 23, 2016
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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

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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

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