■Tari Ito
Born in 1951, Ito is a performance artist who had lived in Holland from 1982 to 1986. She has managed the performance studio, PA/F SPACE in Tokyo since 2002 and is extensively active in performance and speaking - both domestically in Japan and around the world. Her own letter, sent to her then-67 year old mother, along with its reply are included in Coming Out Letters.

Tari Ito's Official Homepage (Japanese): http://itotari.com/　

Two women represent lesbians for the program: Ito and former prefectural assembly member, Kanako Otsuji. They each come from very different generations and backgrounds. Ito's own unusual coming out story - involving her contacting her mother by fax from abroad - piqued the interest of the program hosts and guests alike. Moreover, the eldest among the guests, Ito's disclosure that today she is cheered on by the full support of her 82-year old mother touched all in the studio. Incidentally, her glib remark backstage that, "It's been years since I've put on any make-up for an event other than my performances," got the cast giggling in good spirits. You could see it in everybody's faces - Ito made great company.

★Ito's Message to Viewers
Lesbians have made it to NHK! I get very emotional thinking that at last this time has actually come - or, rather, I should say it feels odd to think that this wasn't happening before! I came to appear on the program with the hope that by being here to make an issue of things that really shouldn’t even be issues, I will be contributing to making a future where they are indeed NOT issues. I may also add, I was pretty startled to notice today that people were falling over themselves to give me senior citizen treatment. I guess my age has come to show in my features a bit.

■Kanako Otsuji
Born in 1974, former Osaka Prefectural Assembly member Kanako Otsuji was elected by Sakai city to the regional government assembly on April 13, 2003. The August 2005 publication of her autobiography Coming Out: A Journey to Find My True Self made her the first politician in Japan to publicly come out. In May of 2007, Otsuji was officially recognized by the Democratic Party of Japan as their representative candidate for the July Upper House election. Ultimately, Otsuji was unable to secure a win, but she did become the first ever openly gay district assembly member to run for Parliament endorsed by a major political party.
Official Homepage： 　www.otsuji-k.com

■Takako Otsuji
Kanako Otsuji's mother. In 2006, she helped found the NPO, LGBT no Kazoku to Yujin O Tsunagu Kai (Linking Friends and Family of LGBT Persons).
The Official homepage for LGBT no Kazoku to Yujin O Tsunagu Kai is: 　http://lgbt.web.fc2.com/

★For a longer interview with Kanako Otsuji, please see here.
★For an interview with Otsuji on the elections, please see here.

Kanako Otsuji gained wide renown for becoming Japan's first politician to openly disclose her sexuality and represent a national party in a national election. She was not elected to office, but has remained active in giving talks and addressing LGBTQ issues publicly and appears in this segment of NHK's Haato O Tsunago. In addition, she has recently gained public attention for her latest project - translating a children's book on same-sex parents, which was published in April 2008, into Japanese.

Otsuji's translation of the book, originally titled And Tango Makes Three, was published by Pot Shuppan with the working Japanese title of Tan-Tan-Tango ha Papa Futari. The book tells the heart-warming true story of a gay penguin family living in New York's Central Park Zoo. First published in the United States in 2005, And Tango Makes Three received several national book awards from library associations, but it was also controversial and stirred demands that the book be pulled from library shelves. After hearing about such protests on the news, Otsuji read the book herself and explains that she was strongly impressed. After her post-election environment settled, she drew up a proposal for publication, handed it to her publisher, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Otsuji elaborates, "I felt sure that if people could read this book in Japanese, it would deepen their understanding of same-sex love. The book does a good job of illustrating diversity in nature and families. There are people out there that think homosexuality is against nature's order, but when you look at the living creatures that make up the natural world, many actually do engage in same-sex pairings. In 1999, Bruce Bagemihle published a book based in his research and observations of over 1500 species that demonstrate homosexual behavior - not just limited to mating. Also, in 2006, the Oslo Natural History Museum in Norway held an exhibition of works on the theme of homosexuality in nature. I'm hoping that this book can be a part of growing understanding in Japan for the diversity visible in nature and families."

Kanako's biggest fan - her mother - made her appearance during the second segment of the NHK program. Backstage, Kanako Otsuji nervously smiled and said, "This is my first joint appearance with my mother. I feel a little embarrassed (laughs)." For several years after her daughter's coming out, Takako Otsuji says she was unable to accept her daughter's sexuality and simply avoided the subject altogether. But all the hard work that her daughter put into working on LGBTQ issues made a deep impression on her. She was inspired to learn more about same-sex love and ultimately cultivated her own understanding. Though she felt quite resistant to the idea of homosexuality before, Takako Otsuji came to form the NPO, LGBT no Kazoku to Yujin O Tsunagu Kai (Linking Friends and Family of LGBT Persons, the equivalent of PFLAG in the US) and is now involved to a degree that couldn't be outdone - even by her daughter.

Takako Otsuji was the only straight-identified person present among the guests at the taping - and her honest and direct manner in speaking along with her dynamic expressions of support helped put everyone at ease and, clearly, were touching to behold.

translated by rayna