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?
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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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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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『[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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『[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.…
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navigating trans misogyny in the Japanese lesbian community…
translation: Accepting participants for the Ibaraki Lesbian Outdoor Meetup ★ [ …… ] Women loving women, FtMs, non-binary people & those questioning, let’s relax and chat together! However, this time only those who are registered as single and female on their family register are allowed, sorry. (Trying to gradually be a little more lax, but… ?) ….and THIS is why i almost always end up having to go all the way to Tokyo to participate in stuff, because the most (seemingly) active part of the LGBT community here (the lesbian community) is so goddamn transphobic. for the last two meetups, the OP was like “no trans women, sorry!” and that was the end of it. this time it doesn’t even mention trans women at all, only providing enough wiggle room for trans men and non-binary people provided they have “F” on their family register… am i or people like me supposed to…
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Q&A: “i’m a non-binary person and sometimes i feel weird calling myself bi/pan?”
anonymous said: so, i’m a non-binary (more specifically trans-masculine) person and sometimes i feel weird calling myself bi/pan? like, i have a hard time figuring out what to call my sexuality, since i feel that many of the labels for sexuality aren’t really designed with nb people in mind. i just… don’t know if you’ve ever had similar feelings? oh definitely, i have felt that way before. in fact, i was at a non-binary meeting yesterday and this was a subject that came up. some people took no issue with bi, while others did. there was talk of how pan was coined in response to (the assumption of) bi being binarist and erasing or exclusionary of non-binary people and how people felt about that. some felt it was a good thing that pan was coined, others had no opinion as they don’t identify as either and were sorely missing the…
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『[4ｺﾏ]☆ノンセクシュアル☆』
…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.
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Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2016 musings
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…
