The Queer Media of COntemporary Japan

- Episode 04- Transcript

Georgie Williams, voiceover: The bright lights of the cities of Japan are enough to dazzle even the most jaded of travellers. Home to the third largest economy in the world and a hub of scientific and technological innovation, Japan is a powerful country with a culture which has absorbed and internalised influences from parts of Asia, Europe and even North America. But more than that, Japan is also the site of social change, the home of nuanced and oft-overlooked histories which demonstrate an immutable truth- that queerness exists here, just as pervasively it does in the West. As the first of several episodes looking at the LGBTQ+ communities of Japan, join me in Kyoto as I discover what queerness looks like when represented in contemporary Japanese arts and media. Welcome to episode 4 of /Queer. You’re here with me, your host, Georgie Williams.

During preparation for my journey to Japan, I more often than not had inquirers express their surprise at taking /Queer through what they considered to be a 'conservative' country. The assumption, by and large, was that I would struggle to find a history and contemporary presence of queer culture in Japan. As we will address more specifically in episode 5 of this podcast, Japan’s cultural history is not lacking in examples of what, through a Western lens, we would consider to be 'queer culture'.

Prior to the Japan leg of this trip, I discussed the matter of LGBTQ+ visibility in Japan with Marta Fanasca, a specialist in gender studies, queer theory and pop culture, who is undertaking her PhD in Japanese Studies. Marta explained to me that, instead of terms such as gay or lesbian being considered identity descriptives, as they are in most of Western culture, much of Japanese society consider these terms to denote a 'sexuality preference'- and this preference is framed as being a deeply private, personal matter. Although these terms are in use and have been adopted into the Japanese lexicon, what they represent has evolved as it has been translated from Western culture to Japanese culture. At this point, it may be useful to step back and, for a moment, discuss the application of the term 'queer' in the context of Japanese culture. As I have addressed in articles previously on the /Queer website, the word 'queer' has powerful connotations, rooted deeply in its history as an anti-LGBT slur.  Not only does the use of the word ‘queer’ presuppose a history of struggle, it is also a word originating from the English language. It denotes something outside of the norm, when the norm is defined through contemporary Western parameters. In other words, what is 'queer', is outside of the bounds of what people in the UK, US and many parts of mainland Europe would consider a 'normal' or 'more common' identity. In that cultural context, it denotes individuals who do not identify with their assigned gender at birth, are not exclusively attracted to a sex other than their own, or do not engage in sexual behaviour whatsoever. We have to be careful using language from one culture and community to describe another- it may be harmful to frame certain behaviours or presentations as a deviation from the norm, if our frame of reference for the norm is an entirely separate society. At best, it is an insensitive oversight. At worst, it borders on being a colonial practice, imposing language and social parameters that another community does not want or need. In order to understand how ‘queer’ was used or not used by Japanese communities, I decided, upon my arrival in Kyoto, to consult a local expert.

Professor Yuka Kanno of Stanford University is a specialist in visual studies, with a focus on feminist studies. As of late, Professor Kanno has been working on projects exploring queer film festivals, as well as transnational queer girls' cinema and culture. She is currently working as an associate professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto where she is a founding member of the Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Research Centre.  As addressed in episode 3 of the podcast, it is evident that the arts, particularly the visual arts, have often been utilised in matters of queer cultural awareness. Visual arts have the power to confront and challenge social norms, provide representation for marginal communities, and provide insight into the lives of individuals whose experiences and hardships may be alien to many of us. Overjoyed to have received Professor Kanno’s approval of the third episode, I was excited at the prospect of picking her brains over what queer visual arts, particularly cinema, looked like in modern Japan.

Georgie Williams, in interview: So, as someone with an interest in visual culture, what can you tell me about how 'queer' or LGBTQ+ culture is being represented and explored in contemporary Japanese cinema? And, furthermore, is the term 'queer' appropriate to use in this cultural context?

Professor Kanno, in interview: Okay so, to talk about y'know, whether the term queer is appropriate or correct in Japanese culture, y'know, in Japanese contexts, I think we need to sort of need to go back to how we started using queer when- So as... queer, we also say [different emphasis] 'queer' in Japanese, so 'queer' came to Japan in the 1990s, I'd say and in the emergence of queer studies in mid-1990s, and what's interesting about Japanese adaption of queer is that we didn't really in my opinion, we didn't really differentiate queer from lesbian & gay studies, it pretty much all came almost together. So there was this journal that came out in 1994, 1995, queer studies and LGBT y'know studies, at almost the same time so, like in the US for instance, queer studies didn't emerge as a kind of response, as a critical response to gay and lesbian studies, and that is part of the kind of really interesting story of queer studies in Japan. But I have to say that 'queer' interestingly came to Japan even earlier than academic field through film culture. So I did a little bit of archival research and I found out that in 1993 there was already a kind of culture magazine which sort of you know had an issue on queer cinema in Japan. So I really like to say that 'queer' came to Japan almost through culture, film culture, even earlier than academic field or through activism. So that's kind of really interesting history of 'queer' in Japan. 

And again I think it's always difficult, what we mean by "queer", right? And I- my um, stance is always y'know it's, it's… I can't really generally say "this is queer" in Japanese context, it's impossible to summarise you know, what queer means in Japanese context, I always think that y'know, 'queer' really depends on the context right? Rather than in the US or in Japan, so, each time we use queer, in 'queer cinema', 'queer director'- we try to explain, describe what we mean by 'queer woman director', 'queer male director', so I think… It's really hard for me to say generally, y'know, what queer means or represents in Japan.

Georgie Williams, in interview: Fantastic! So, there is very much a kind of um, there is uh, 'queer' elements in cinema but then there's also the influence of queer creators and queer producers and directors as well.

Professor Kanno, in interview: Yeah, right so, again, I was thinking, your questions about what 'queer' or LGBTQ is being represented in contemporary Japanese cinema so- it's not just representation per se right? But more like wider film culture, so, publication and journal and spectatorship so, representation- it's been always there, right? Queer-like, lesbian- like characters, narratives and thematic concepts are always there, but what makes them see queer always depends on the context and...

Of y'know, in terms of representation, right? We have always had queer representations you know, gay characters, lesbian narratives, images, yes. But if we want to talk about queer culture in Japan I think we have to think a little bit, go beyond each text, individual texts, who and for what and which community, so I think y'know, it really depends on the context and sure! Queer is, y'know, [loaned] from English and we all know but… gay and lesbian are also [loaned] from English and if we say "woah that's not really Japanese" or "those concepts are falling to Japanese culture" then y'know, we really cannot talk about um… identity and community which has become Japanese, pretty much now, so I think yes of course, identity, gay, lesbian, queer, each word has more kind of specific meaning and y'know, it's not the same as queer, gay and lesbian maybe in the United States for instance, but yes, I mean culture is always heterogeneous and hybrid, so I really don't think Japanese culture is purely singular and unique. That doesn't exist, it's always y'know, we're all from China and Korea and the United States so, I think it's just… if we want to 'queer' a specific context, we just kind of want to be careful about how to contextualise this concept.

Georgie Williams, in interview: So just as a side question relating to that so… the actual word 'queer', is it, has that been directly supplanted from English language into Japanese? Is it, is it spelled differently, has it been adapted or…?

Professor Kanno, in interview: Yeah, it's written in Katakana, and we pronounce as 'queer' to, I guess, English language but… yeah, and 'lesbian' and 'gay', we also use those words like English. So I think, you know 'queer' is not… sometimes queer studies or 'queer', people criticize like, that's a very Western or even American concept and, and very elitist in a sense but the same time I think yes, it can be, but 'gay' and 'lesbian' are not really better than 'queer', so… [laughs] 

Georgie Williams, in interview: How do elements of queer culture, representation and exploration differ from those found in more Western media? 

Professor Kanno, in interview: Again it's uh, really uh… hard to say but… just for instance, if we think about the beginning, the very beginning of Japanese cinema, right? And all the female parts were performed by male actors because the cinema was sort of, y'know, uh, cinema developed on the basis of theatrical tradition, including Kabuki ,so all the performers, all the actors were… men, right? So, from the beginning, in a way, Japanese cinema was queer all, y'know, they all sort of… only men performed female characters. And then in the twenties, more kind of 'biological female' bodies started playing women parts, women characters, so um... I think just from the beginning, yeah, if you want to talk about how queer Japanese cinema can be, it's been always queer, in a way.

Georgie Williams, in interview: That's amazing, I didn't know that at all, that's fascinating. So, my next question is, what impact is queer film having in Japanese culture at this time? Over what time frame has there been a notable emergence of this type of media, and do you feel it is helping to enact social change or encourage conversation surrounding LGBTQ+ issues? 

Professor Kanno, in interview: Okay so I really think and I hope that we get to learn complexity and ambiguity and even contradictions of gender and sexuality through queer cinema, queer films and I think, y'know, what- if there's something queer cinema can do is like really, we get to learn not just positive, negative images and stereotypes of y'know, LGBTQ people but… I think y'know, queer cinema can really show really complex issues so… that's, that's what I like about the idea of 'queer'- it really allows y'know, kind of flexible, complex, not always wonderful, correct representations but really it can show contradictions and difficulties and really-

Georgie Williams, in interview: the full spectrum-

Yuka Kanno, in interview: Yeah, of of representations and narrative and that's what I really like to call "queer cinema"- what it can do. 

Georgie Williams, in interview: I was gonna say do you find that it's being engaged with by a mainstream audience?...

Yuka Kanno, in interview: It's really difficult I mean… for instance, in contemporary Japanese cinema, right, we have really interesting queer directors- male and female and transgender filmmakers but...not so many in mainstream film. And there are a lot of great independent filmmakers but in mainstream, it's really hard to see representation of LGBTQ people beyond really, stereotypes, you know? Especially if we include um, TV and you know, go beyond just cinema, wider media landscape thinking a lot of… cross-dressing male showbiz people are more visible and gay men to a certain extent but it is really rare to see lesbian...

Georgie Williams, in interview: Why do you think that is?

Professor Kanno, in interview: I think definitely there's this gender issue, you know? There's also traditional of cross-dressing kind of, gay, you know, personalities on TV and there's strong tradition in Japan for that. But um, I think, you know, lesbian and bisexual and transgender, especially trans men are really not visible in media and there's something… I mean… it's certainly, we're getting more, and you know a lot of people start obviously coming out but um… it's still, it's still rare to see women and and trans men… yeah. There might be a lot of reason and… lesbian has always been invisible like anywhere else [laughs], in Japan too… and also there's this stereotype of gay men who speak in a certain way, we call ‘Oné characters’ and so those are always popular and people seem to really like when they scold you on TV and they really want to be scolded by these cross-dressing men [laughs]. So it's really interesting these dynamics-who gets represented and who doesn't and there's certainly gender issues not just sexuality.

Georgie Williams, in interview: Course. So, just to go on to a question that was put forward by one of the listeners. So they were saying that there is a huge following for ‘Boy’s Love’- so Yaoi and Yuri media in Japan- and they wanted to ask, is this something that is viewed as only acceptable in media, or is it more mainstream in wider society here?

Professor Kanno, in interview: I think now it's getting more and more mainstream and accepted as very uh, powerful kind of cultural text and representation and I think it's, certainly, Boy's Love is really part of contemporary queer culture in Japan...

Georgie Williams, voiceover: For those who are not acquainted with this subject, Yaoi is the term for ‘boy’s love’, and Yuri is the term for ‘girl’s love’, genres of fictional media found in light novels, manga, anime, video games and other forms of Japanese media, that explore same-gender attraction. These genres have a notable following in the UK and US, but I myself was unsure as to what extent individuals within Japan engaged with these genres and topics. 

Professor Kanno, in interview: ...I don't know much about Yaoi and Boy's Love and certainly in early days there were a lot of discussions whether it is appropriation of gay people right? Because certainly a lot of consumers and readership was supposedly made of straight women, young women, and I think now it's changing- I know that a lot of gay men themselves enjoy BL and… again, I think there's something gender-related issues in terms of readership and spectatorship. Why so many women are attracted to this male-male romance and erotics and certainly there's you know, a kind of fantasy element and, and… I think interestingly there so- why male-male desire is so interesting, so attractive to a lot of women? Straight or non-straight you know. I sense that there is also strongly related gender, you know...

Georgie Williams, in interview: Of course. So, one final question, just out of curiosity- if somebody was interested in engaging in contemporary queer Japanese cinema, what would you recommend that they start with, in terms of, what should they watch? What should they check out?

Professor Kanno, in interview: I would say, even in the late 60s, there were a lot of interesting queer cinema in Japan- for instance, Funeral Parade of Roses by Matsumoto Toshio. There’s a sort of gay culture in Shinjuku in the late 60s, very politicized Japan and… gay, transgender character and it's… male director but you know, certainly it's a really interesting queer character. And I would say contemporary girls' cinema and friendship cinema is very queer in Japan. I think that there's, again, a very interesting cultural, cultural genealogy of female friendship in literature, in cinema. So often in Japanese cultural text, sexuality and erotics are not explicitly expressed. So often, friendship becomes very... the very site of these erotics expressions and sexual possibilities so, queer cinema in the context of Japanese contemporary cinema6 I'd say that you know, even though it doesn't look like explicitly sexual, erotic, queer… you know, a lot of girls' friendship films are really interestingly queer.

Georgie Williams, in interview: That's amazing. Uh- thank you so very much...

Georgie Williams, voiceover: I had not anticipated the matter of the male/female gender divide to be so central to the subject of queer representation in Japanese media. Although I wasn’t greatly surpsised as, even in Western media, gay men have always benefitted from greater representation than other members of the LGBTQ+ community, I did not anticipate the lesbian communities of Japan to have been so profoundly overlooked. Furthermore, I was disappointed to hear of how trans women appeared to have significantly greater media representation than trans men. However, given this binaristic gender division that is apparently so integral to Japanese society, one could speculate that many individuals continue to assume what many Western societies have incorrectly assumed too- that gay men and trans women are one and the same, since they are both assumed to be, and thus assigned male at birth. When trans women are portrayed in Western media, it can often be for comedic purposes- because it is seen as debasing and humiliating for an individual who was assigned male at birth to be presenting themselves in a feminine manner- given that feminine-presenting individuals are often second class citizens within a patriarchal power dynamic. Although at this time I am unaware as to whether or not this is a practice which exists in Japanese entertainment, it could explain the cultural parallels. 

As Professor Kanno and I discussed the contrasting natures of Western and Eastern queer cultures, one thing became evident- Japanese queer culture focused more on sexuality and less on gender presentation. Between us we theorised as to whether or not this was tied into the collectivist and individualist values of Western and Eastern communities. In psychology, early cultural research reduced the complexities of Western and Eastern social norms down to a binary of individualism vs collectivism. To summarize, it has been suggested that where 'Western'- predominantly US and UK cultures- encourage individuals to focus on their personal needs, wants and aspirations, Eastern cultures often encourage individuals to consider their identities as inherently entwined with those of their families, friends and wider society. This collectivism encourages a conscientiousness regarding how one’s personal choices influence and impact their broader social circles. It was on this basis that Professor Kanno and I pondered if, perhaps, external expression of queerness, in a community where gender roles are still rigid and undeniably presented within a binary, is an excursion or deviation from this social rule which would not be considered simply a personal rebellion, but an act of rupture intended to negatively affect the lives of others. Perhaps, being queer was considered a deeply personal matter because anxieties persisted regarding how making that queerness visible could impact one’s ability to effectively perform their social roles within their own community.

Of course, there are many mediums in which queerness is being addressed and discussed in contemporary Japan. On top of the exploration of queerness in Japanese cinema, contemporary artists of Japanese origin have been using their mediums to explore matters of queer sexuality since the late 20th century. Masami Teraoka is a Hiroshima-born artist whose work incorporates traditional Japanese visual art styles- in particular, the use of Ukiyo-e style woodblock printing. Although Teraoka’s work does not overtly portray explicitly queer individuals, his style and subject matter undeniably calls upon matters of the queer experience. In a print from his AIDS Series titled ‘Geisha in Bath’, a feminine presenting individual is seen waist-deep in bathwater, tearing open a packet of condoms with her teeth. In her hair she wears kanzashi, which are a form of accessory worn in the hair- in this case, these are long wooden sticks. Across the wood, dark patches are visible, which are recognisable to many as Kaposi’s Sarcoma- for those of you who listened to my previous interviews with Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, you may remember her mentioning Kaposi’s, as a form of cancer most prevalent amongst individuals living with AIDS. There is a sense of androgyny to the geisha’s body- although her broad shoulders and small breasts are not inherently masculine, she is not portrayed as a stereotypically feminine individual either. This presentation of androgyny is also noticeable in another piece called Mates, part of Teraoka’s Tale of a Thousand Condoms collection, in which an androgynous couple embraces in the back of a taxi. There is an evident power dynamic as the individual with earrings and red nails is the larger of the two, cradling their partner who is lying somewhat submissively in their arms. Feminine aesthetics become juxtaposed with the scale of the body in comparison with their more masculine coded partner, and the dynamic at play between the two. As Professor Kanno shared with me, the binaristic division of maleness and femaleness is still integral to one’s identity in Japan, even as a queer individual, and so to see art from a Japanese artist which plays with gender presentation in this way is exciting and insightful. Within queer representation lies power, and that power is drawn from how an image can spark a conversation concerning subjects previously unspoken within a community or society. 

During my time in Tokyo, I have also been fortunate enough to be introduced to the works of Eiki Mori, a Japanese photographer and performance artist whose work has often focused on male sexuality. In a video I was shown of a collection of his public performances titled A Poet: We See a Rainbow, Mori is seen dressed in a heavy, hooded white gown made of embroidered material, holding aloft a white, tulle-fabric umbrella, as he reads his poetry in a public hall, a local plaza or outside of a public building. His visual appearance is notably feminine and the act of reading his work aloud makes this performance socially disruptive in a way which is powerful and deeply vulnerable. This is not covert queerness, and it is not a queerness which is indicative of any desire to assimilate- it is bold and challenging, and in witnessing this I am aware of how, in my own desire to understand queer Japanese culture, I may have been quick to overlook the heterogeneity, the great variance of the queer Japanese lived experience. It would be reductive to assume that there is one singular, homogenous way in which queerness is being represented in contemporary Japanese media, and through the insight Professor Kanno provided regarding queer Japanese cinema and the works of Masami Teraoka and Eiki Mori, it has become evident to me that what is being shared in Japanese visual arts is a number of vast and incommensurable presentations of queerness that cannot, and should not, be reduced down to a singular concept. I invite you to take a look at the aforementioned artworks of Teraoka and Mori which I have made available on the /Queer gallery page for this episode. You will not be disappointed by their work.

My time in this country has just begun and, as an outsider, it is already becoming increasingly evident that the Japan I had heard about whilst living in the UK is not the Japan I am learning about whilst here. If my time with Professor Kanno taught me anything, it is that not only did the term ‘queer’ arrive here before academia ever exported it to Japan, but that queerness is not the great taboo we are often led to believe it is through our own Western media. There are brands of queer activism and feminism which often fall short of implementing a truly reflexive, intersectional lens, because they place themselves upon a pedestal as examples of social progressiveness. For example, many Western communities may deem a woman’s employment to be indicative of her freedom and emancipation from patriarchal power structures. In conjunction, we may assume that a woman from a non-Western culture who achieves the opportunity to stay at home and raise her children instead of being forced into low-wage labour in order to survive, is in fact being oppressed by those same patriarchal power structures. Our idea of what it means to be free, autonomous, represented and emancipated, is not a global one. The focuses of activism, particularly queer activism, often need to be subjective to the cultural context, and I see queer visibility in Japanese media as being no different. We presume that our queerness must be universal, that all communities must want to present this concept within the same parameters, the same regulations- but that is not the case. Just as Professor Kanno explained to me how Japanese culture has internalised and absorbed concepts and traditions from non-Japanese communities, it is also evident that those concepts and traditions evolve with time. Eastern queerness does not have to mirror Western queerness- gender ambiguity does not have to be used to non-verbally communicate our position as a sexually variant individual. Nonetheless, one can hope that Japanese culture is also evolving to make space for those who do wish to demonstrate their queerness, visibly, outside of the defined gendered presentations that are so pervasive throughout the country. The work of Masami Teraoka and Eiki Mori makes us wonder what space is available for those who cannot and do not wish to conform to the gendered expectations of aesthetic presentation, and how that space can be created and mediated for Japanese queer communities, if it is so desired. But these are questions for another time and another episode, when I will be interviewing a collective of inspiring young activists in Tokyo who can tell me what’s on the agenda for a queer Japanese revolution. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have just begun to scratch the surface of Queer Japan.

This episode of the /Queer Podcast was edited by Charles Makemson and scripted and produced by me, Georgie Williams. A very special thanks to Professor Yuka Kanno of Stanford University and Doshisha University for her insight. Many thanks also to fellow researcher Marta Fanasca, Sho Akita and Ken Nakahashi, and well as a quick shout out to Saskia Williams for providing technical support. Just a head’s up as well for those who were not previously aware- transcripts are available for every episode of this podcast on the home page of /Queer, just below the media player. 

I’d also like to take a moment to thank my Patreon subscribers for supporting me getting to Japan in the first place to produce this episode. Every leg of this tour prior to this episode has been personally funded, so thank you for your generous contributions, it really means the world to me. If you do enjoy this podcast and wish to contribute in any way to supporting this venture, it would be wonderful to have you on board as part of the /Queer team. You can find the /Queer Patreon at patreon.com/slashqueer. That’s S-L-A-S-H Queer. The link is also available on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. I am always grateful for anything you are willing to give towards making this podcast happen. If you cannot give anything financially, I am equally grateful for you subscribing to the podcast or sharing these episodes with friends and loved ones. /Queer is, now more than ever, a community project, and I appreciate anyone who goes the extra mile to share these stories with the people in their lives.

This episode was recorded on location in Kyoto and Tokyo in Japan. Music in this episode was composed by Kevin MacLeod. If you enjoyed this episode or have any feedback, please get in touch on Instagram or Twitter at @SlashQueer or email us at slashqueer@outlook.com. As is our custom now, until next time stay kind, stay radical and stay queer.