― The Coming of the Second LGBT Boom?―
[Article for velvetpark magazine]

Profile: Kanako Otsuji
Born in 1974 in Nara. Kanako Otsuji was elected to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly on April 13, 2003 and served until the end of her term in April 2007. She gained widespread recognition for becoming both the youngest person ever elected to the Assembly and being one of its few women members. The publication of her autobiography, Coming Out: A Journey to Find My True Self, in August 2005 made her the first politician in Japan to publicly come out as a lesbian.
Kanako Otsuji Homepage: www.otsuji-k.com
TW Article: Otsuji on the Diet elections

★To learn more about Otsuji's run for the National Diet, click here.

―It seems to me that a second boom time has arrived for sexual minorities in Japan, what do you think?

Yes, I think things really have been picking up quite rapidly now.

―LGBT issues in particular have received a lot of coverage lately in the Japanese media, and though many television producers and writers still seem to limit themselves and reproduce the same old stereotypical images, I do get a sense that pockets of the media have been improving. How do you see what has been happening in this regard?

Yes, I think that a lot has been going on. For one, there are still plenty of programs on television that nonchalantly refer to homosexuals as 'homos' or 'lezzies.' Along that line I'd include 'Antenna 22,' which was broadcast on NTV last year. (Antenna 22 was a variety program of documentary works broadcast on NTV affiliates from 2005 to September 2006. On May 15, 2006 it introduced a sensationalist take on LGBT lifestyles in a documentary titled "Late Night Nichome: The Free and Wild Town of Seduction" with the catchphrase 'You want to see something scary? We'll take you out for the forbidden tour!')

When a national network runs a program like that, during prime time, with such heavily mistaken stereotypical portrayals of LGBT people and their environments, well then, it's quite damaging to our overall image. People living in the city can still get a hold of accurate information, so from their perspective it's perhaps not so bad. But when programs like that just appear out of nowhere in smaller towns where alternative information is impossible to come by, it establishes a very unbalanced image of homosexuals. That is clearly a problem, wouldn't you agree?

―Exactly. That episode was dreadful - and really shocking. And what's more is that it does have a great impact on society. I was watching and suddenly had the feeling that I’d slipped back, way back, into time. It was clearly something made by some straight old guy.

I believe that at times where programs like 'Antenna 22', that are so absolutely lacking in consideration for sexual minorities, are on the air, it's all the more crucial that we act. We should never, under any circumstances, remain silent.

―Putting aside television and weekly magazines, it does seem that recently women's fashion magazines have become gay friendly. They almost even show a fondness for lesbians. In particular, Vogue, Elle, and marie claire, among others have been addressing news topics concerning gay women and men. Owing to the movies "Brokeback Mountain" and "Transamerica", and events like Elton John's wedding, a lot of interest has been directed towards gay issues this year especially. (*Elton John and his partner wed by their established right to a civil partnership in England.)

On that subject, have you read the Nikkei Marketing Journal? There is an article on the LGBT market, and it brings up items like the LGBT magazine "Yes". The NMJ is a Japanese financial press newspaper, and it's ground-breaking to have the LGBT market taken up for discussion on such a large scale. (An article titled "Ahead of the LGBT trend" was printed in the April 19 2006 edition of the Nikkei Marketing Journal. Also, in the February 28th edition of the Nikkei Business, an article titled "A Gigantic Market: LGBT" was run.)

―So with new waves like this in mind, if there was indeed a second LGBT boom going on, what do you think the reason behind it would be?

That's a good question. Seeing as, in the first place, 12 years has passed since the last gay boom, I think that the time is ripe.

―What do you think stirred up the fires for the last gay boom?

At the time, if I recall properly, a women's magazine had written about how gay persons embodied a fashionable presence. It was in a magazine like CREA.

―Do you think that lesbians were included in that conceptualization of gayness?

The magazines were centering more on gay men, but lesbians also participated in the movement at the time. For one, the lesbian writer Hiroko Kakefuda and the equally groundbreaking gay writer Noriaki Fushimi together came up with the Liberation of Gender (LOG) Caravan in 1994. The caravan was covered in women's magazines, and not long after reading Kakefuda's book, vocalist Michiru Sasano then made the decision to come out as well. When she did come out in 1995, the impact was tremendous, both on lesbians and on society as a whole.

(* Hiroko Kakefuda's book: Rezubian de aru, to iu koto [On being a Lesbian], published by Kawade Shobō Shinsha, 1992.)
(* Michiru Sasano's book: Coming OUT!, published by Gentosha, 1995.)

I think these all contributed to the rise of Japan's first gay and lesbian boom in the 90s.
Thus, after having watched the first boom take place, I would suspect that our generation ― now entering our 30s and applying ourselves to the gills out there in the world ― is responsible for stirring this current second boom up. Noriaki Fushimi originally said this but, we've just perfectly completed one turn of the Chinese (12-year) zodiac cycle, and something has changed.

―I see.

Therefore, if we continue to look at things in that manner, then a lot can be expected from the young college students of today. This particularly applies to GLOW (an officially recognized student club at Waseda University for LGBT youth) and ICU (International Christian University). When I went to give a talk at ICU, I found my posters plastered all over the campus! (laughs)

―Really?! They posted them on the school buildings?

Yes. I found them stuck everywhere, from the entrance to the buildings, all the way to the tops of tables in the cafeteria! (laughs) I practically wondered, "Is it even OK that they put this many up?!' (laughs)

That's just how much vitality that students today have come to possess, all we need is one more turn of the cycle. If today's college students continue to grow this well, then by the time that they've hit their 30s Japan will undoubtedly be undergoing a great change.
Also, with the internet's explosive expansion from the late-1990s, the ability of minority groups to develop links with each other has also been very important. And owing to that, news from other countries around the world has been rapidly flowing in as well.

―Very true. News of same-sex marriages and partnerships has been very stimulating.
Other than trends and popular movements, how do you believe sexual minorities today are impacted by conditions in Japanese society today, mainly from legal and other structural perspectives? What do you think is unique about conditions in Japan when compared with other countries?

Let's see. To give a general picture, first of all I'd say that, in Japan, recognition of trans people ― our 'T' in LGBT ― is actually the most advanced. The reason for this stems from "San-Nen B Gumi: Kinpachi Sensei", a mainstream Japanese television drama that brought in a transgendered character, played by a very popular young actress. The issue seemed to grip the public just about overnight. Soon after that, the boating athlete Hiromasa Ando, soccer athlete Yuriko Mizuma - formerly from Japan's National Team, and other athletes came out as having gender dysphoria. And furthermore, Aya Kamikawa, a transwoman, broke through into the world of politics and was elected as a member to her ward assembly. In just the passing of a heartbeat, transgendered people had made quite a splash.

―I often hear that one reason transpeople are so easily accepted within Japan is the fact that they are seen as disabled, or having a disorder (Note: In Japan, people who do not identify with their born gender are currently recognized as having "Gender Identity Disorder". "GID" is used commonly when discussing trans people and their issues in political, medical, and mainstream cultures.) Conversely, since lesbian, gay, and bi-identified people are seen as "hedonists", the media fails to address their issues in earnest. What do you think?

I do think that the presence of the word "disorder" in the GID label has made the acceptance of the concept a lot easier for people. Though the structures are still quite limiting, transpeople were able to go so far as to win changes to the legal system allowing them to correct the sex recorded in their family registers and official documents.

Just recently, a great deal of attention in the Kansai area was centered on the case of a seven year-old boy in Hyogo who has been attending school as a girl. (In the Harima province of Hyogo, a second grade boy started to take part in school and related activities as a girl after being diagnosed as having GID. The story was taken up broadly in newspapers across Kobe on May 18 2006.) The article was at the top of the front page on the Kobe Shimbun Newspaper, and it also made the front page in Kansai evening newspapers. At the time, press journalists also came to me for interviews, but apparently they didn’t quite grasp the difference between transsexual and gay ― they would ask me whether I had a medical certificate to verify my condition! (laughs) In many other countries, a pattern has developed where AFTER gay people make gains in rights issues such as same-sex partnerships protected by law, transgendered people - an even greater minority by numbers - then see their actions gain visibility.

However, in Japan, awareness of transgender issues has far surpassed that of gay and lesbian issues due to the explosive circulation of "GID awareness" within mass communications. The government as well, because of the change in law, has incorporated GID topics in its activities to educate the public about human rights, yet it's still difficult to find topics involving homosexuality at the same level.

―Incredible, it's almost opposite from what is happening internationally.

But still, just because they have broader recognition does not necessarily mean that it's any easier for people with gender dysphoria. They must handle all surgery costs since insurance will not cover them, and then there are problems in employment. In the end, all that has really 'advanced' is the recognition of the problem in name.

―I feel that living as a lesbian in Japanese society today is still quite hard. What's your personal opinion?

Well, even within the gay population as a whole, a real gap between gay men and gay women exists. The reason for this is the fact that Japan still rates extremely low in its gender equality indicators. For example, women's average lifetime earnings stand at just barely over 60% of those calculated for men ― that's a problem. Also, as labor on the whole is becoming increasingly fluid or mobile, the labor power of women and youth are used therein as regulators. More than 50% of women are surviving on irregular employment, that is non-permanent, non-full-time workers. That means that half of all women are working short-term jobs without any form of social stability or security. In other words, an impoverishment of women is taking place. In the case of gay men, wages are determined by a structure where labor is divided by gender roles, thus men are provided with wages sufficient for taking care of a whole household. Therefore, a gay male couple consists of two high earners, with a lot of disposable income to use on traveling, hobbies, and clothes ― and this is how the gay market has taken form. Now, when talking of the same gay people, we must realize that each person is different and no one cookie cutter can be applied to everyone, but when I look at the lesbians around me, I find that many are poorer working at jobs with less security. However, I do think that the case is different in Tokyo. That's because in Tokyo there are a lot of foreign and international companies with non-discriminatory wage structures, and there are also many jobs where women can build their own careers.

―In Tokyo there are successful lesbians, but still nothing like what they call the 'power lesbians' in the US. (*A power lesbian is an 'out' and successful woman able to give herself fully to the world and lifestyle that she chooses for herself, without worrying about what others think. An expression originating in Western culture; also appears in Season 2 Episode 18 of Sex and the City.)

That's true. As I just said, poverty among women also takes shape as poverty among lesbians, so I do get a sense that, economically as well, many women still can't afford to be putting their energies into social movements.

―Though this has little to do with economics, I wanted to ask what you think of the lesbian scene in Japan.

I think the lesbian scene in Japan is suffering from a stoppage in the inflow of information ― somewhere around "If These Walls Could Talk 2" (*Lesbian-themed movie released in 2000; starring Sharon Stone and Chloe Sevigny), to give an example through movies. I don't think that people are even aware of later films like "D.E.B.S." or "Saving Face" yet. The L Word as well is only known by people really in the know. Most people still haven't heard of it. That's really such a shame.

―The L Word is delightful, insofar as it's our first and very own lesbian drama series. (* The L Word is an American drama set in LA, unprecedented for the fact that all of its characters are lesbian. In Japan, The L Word is shown on the cable channel FOX LIFE and distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan. For more information from the Japanese media, please see the July 2006 issue of marie claire japan.)

Yes, it is a delight. I mean, after all, in Japan we have..."Yubi!" (laughs) It's so old...that's the era of Seicho Matsumoto. (laughs) (* "Yubi" was a Japanese drama broadcast on NTV on February 21st, 2006. The script was written by Seicho Matsumoto, and cast included Maki Goto and Saki Takaoka. The program had a Showa-era (1926-1989) taste to it and included a number problematic lines such as, "I'd do anything in order to be a big actress! A lezzy, a murderer, anything!" The images it portrayed slammed lesbians.)

―(laughs) It was so ridiculously outdated! It begs the question ― who would come up with such a cheap piece of work nowadays?! I checked out some commentary on it posted on a bulletin board at a lesbian website, and everybody seemed really annoyed.

What would you expect, right?!

―People were asking, "What was up with the close-up on the DOG?!” (laughs) The way that the Chihuahua was shown was hilarious. (laughs)

(laughs) Yeah, and I've never heard of a lesbian bar where you could go pick up women like THEY did! (laughs)

translated by rayna rusenko