Table Of ContentEdges of the Rainbow
LGBTQ Japan
Michel Delsol & Haruku Shinozaki
Other Books in This Series
Delhi: Communities of Belonging
Sunil Gupta & Charan Singh
Pride & Joy: Taking the Streets of New York City
Jurek Wajdowicz
Five Bells: Being LGBT in Australia
Jenny Papalexandris
Bordered Lives: Transgender Portraits from Mexico
Kike Arnal
Lyudmila and Natasha: Russian Lives
Misha Friedman
“The exquisite humanity in this book transcends all
geographical and cultural difference to show us what is
universal in ourselves, and germane to place. A triumph of
insight and heart.” —Hilton Als, staff writer for the New Yorker
“A wonderful visual exploration of contemporary queer lives
in Japan. Exploring the personal and public lives of a gay Edges of the Rainbow
Episcopal priest, a young lesbian couple who’ve been
accepted by their family, a famous civil rights activist and
pop idol, an intersex author, and more, this important volume
provides a unique glimpse into a diverse Japan. It inspires
us to to ‘live as you are—truthfully.’” —Karen Nakamura, professor of
anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley
“Now, perched at the edge of a rainbow. From there, inner
comfort and respectful reception. In this photographic
creation, view and celebrate Japan’s brave new world on the
sex and gender spectrum.” —Richard Green, founding president of the
International Academy of Sex Research and founding editor of the Archives of
Sexual Behavior
“Edges of the Rainbow shows directly and truly the simple fact
that sexual minority and gender diversity is just a regular part
of this world. All the subjects that have been documented in
this book are feeling the reality of living as themselves. Just
by looking at the photo, your light brings us pride.”
—Gon Matsunaka, producer of Out in Japan
“Through Michel Delsol’s exquisitely honest and intimate
photography and Haruku Shinozaki’s intelligent and probing
interviews, Edges of the Rainbow shares an extraordinary and
up-close view of the vitality and diversity that shapes Japan’s
thriving LGBTQ community.” —Russett Lederman, writer, researcher,
and Japanese photography collector
www.thenewpress.com
Cover photographs © by Michel Delsol
Cover design by Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS)
d
Edges of the Rainbow
LGBTQ Japan
Michel Delsol & Haruku Shinozaki
Preface
序
JON STRYKER
文
This project was born out of conversations that I had with Jurek Wajdowicz. He is an
accomplished art photographer and frequent collaborator of mine, and I am a lover of
and collector of photography. I owe a great debt to Jurek and his design partner, Lisa
LaRochelle, in bringing this book series to life.
Both Jurek and I have been extremely active in social justice causes—I as an activist
and philanthropist and he as a creative collaborator with some of the household names
in social change. Together we set out with an ambitious goal to explore and illuminate
the most intimate and personal dimensions of self, still too often treated as taboo: sexual
orientation and gender identity and expression. These books continue to reveal the amazing
multiplicity in these core aspects of our being, played out against a vast array of distinct
and varied cultures and customs from around the world.
Photography is a powerful medium for communication that can transform our
understanding and awareness of the world we live in. We believe the photographs in this
series will forever alter our perceptions of the arbitrary boundaries that we draw between
© 2017 by Michel Delsol and Haruku Shinozaki others and ourselves and, at the same time, delight us with the broad spectrum of
Preface © 2017 by Jon Stryker
Introduction © 2017 by Mark McLelland possibility for how we live our lives and love one another.
All rights reserved.
We are honored to have Michel Delsol and Haruku Shinozaki as collaborators in Edges
No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form, without written permission from the publisher.
of the Rainbow. They, and the other photographers in this ongoing series, are more than
Requests for permission to reproduce selections from this book should be mailed to:
craftsmen: they are communicators, translators, and facilitators of the kind of exchange
Permissions Department, The New Press, 120 Wall Street, 31st floor, New York, NY 10005.
that we hope will eventually allow all the world’s people to live in greater harmony. n
Published in the United States by The New Press, New York, 2017
Distributed by Perseus Distribution
ISBN 978-1-62097-289-2 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-62097-290-8 (e-book)
CIP data is available
The New Press publishes books that promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of
the issues vital to our democracy and to a more equitable world. These books are made possible
by the enthusiasm of our readers; the support of a committed group of donors, large and small;
the collaboration of our many partners in the independent media and the not-for-profit sector;
booksellers, who often hand-sell New Press books; librarians; and above all by our authors.
www.thenewpress.com
Book design and composition © 2017 by Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS)
This book was set in Helvetica Inserat, Helvetica Neue, Franklin Gothic, News Gothic, and Kozuka Mincho
Printed in the United States of America
Jon Stryker, philanthropist, architect, and photography devotee, is the founder and board president of the Arcus Foundation,
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a global foundation promoting respect for diversity among peoples and in nature.
5
前 Introduction
MARK McLELLAND
書
– –
Japan is a big place, bigger than Britain, Germany, fertility. Then there is the communal bathing at (gei boi), and meeting place, the “gay bar” (gei ba), the American homophile magazine ONE. Although
or Italy, and it’s home to over 126 million people. hot springs (no swimsuits there!). Those who have burst onto the scene after the end of the American its circulation was tiny, Adonisu was just one
Stretching from the chilly waters off the coast of read the novels by Mishima Yukio1 featuring gay occupation in 1952. Indeed, it was probably in of many small publications in the 1950s and
Russia to the balmy subtropics, it’s a diverse place. male themes, which were published in 1949 and Japanese in 1958 that the word “gay”—signifying 1960s that celebrated sexual diversity and whose
If you have only ever visited Tokyo, claiming to 1951, a time when such a topic could barely be homosexual men—was first used in the title of a letters pages were important vehicles for men to
–
know Japan is like saying you know America after broached in the mainstream American novel, may book. Manga artist and critic Tomita Eizo’s Gei meet and exchange views and experiences. The
having only been to New York. Yet when many assume a worldliness and sophistication regarding (Gay) described his sorties into the gay bar world editors of some of these magazines kept up a
people think about Japan, diversity isn’t something sexual expression in Japanese culture. Then and the flamboyant personalities he encountered lively correspondence with sexology pioneer Alfred
that immediately comes to mind, despite its there are Tokyo’s newhalf2 and onabe3 bars, and there. By the late 1950s these bars had evolved Kinsey, whose 1948 book on Sexual Behavior
complex culture and long history. People who we let’s not forget the extraordinary range of sexual into avant-garde places of entertainment, not in the Human Male had been translated into
think of today as being gender variant or members acts, identities, and appetites that appear across unlike the American drag subculture explored in Japanese in 1950.
– –
of sexual and gender minorities (lesbian, gay, Japanese popular culture in manga and anime— Esther Newton’s Mother Camp. At this time, new In the 1970s, Togo Ken, gay bar owner and
bisexual, transgender, or queer persons) have been including whole genres devoted to “boys love” kinds of gender-diverse entertainers appeared on publisher of the radical magazine Za gei (The
an important part of that history. Male lovers were and “girls love.” The manga Ranma ½, about a the screen and stage too, including Miwa Akihiro, Gay), founded a movement named Zatsumin no
prominent among the Buddhist clergy and even teenage male martial arts student who changes who started off as a “beautiful boy” performer Kai (Miscellaneous People Association), which
among samurai and their faithful retainers. Yet sex when splashed with water, ran for nearly a of sentimental chansons before adopting a more sponsored the Miscellaneous People Party, a
times change and these historical memories have decade in a popular boys’ weekly magazine. Based feminized appearance, performing in women’s political group that argued for respect and rights
little relevance to people living in today’s Japan— on these impressions, we may assume a broad attire and taking the women’s part in songs, albeit for a range of individuals disenfranchised by the
just as Shakespeare’s cross-dressing actors or tolerance for sexual and gender diversity—but it maintaining his deep and powerful male voice. patriarchal and conservative nature of society at
Plato’s musings on the virtues of male love may is a complicated picture that is reflected in this Miwa is the longest-lived transgender performer the time. These included sex workers, divorced
fail to resonate with people of European descent. collection of personal stories and photographs. in Japan, still appearing on television in a bright people, single parents, children born out of
All too often people think that Japan’s historical Contrary to misleading articles in the English- orange wig. wedlock, people living in unconventional family
tolerance of diverse sexual expression continues language press, awareness of LGBTQ people is not Japan is also not without a tradition of LGBTQ arrangements, and lesbians, gays, and transgender
– –
unabated. We may have in mind the annual “penis a new phenomenon in Japan. Japan’s first “gay activism. Japan’s first postwar publication persons. In doing so, Togo anticipated in many
–
festivals” and “naked festivals” that have roots boom” (gei bumu) took place in the mid-1950s as created by and for male homosexuals, Adonisu ways the inclusivity and political stance that
in Shinto traditions celebrating the harvest and a new style of homosexual identity, the “gay boy” (Adonis), began publication in 1952, predating were to grow out of the queer movement in the
1 As is customary in Japan, family names in this introduction are cited before given names. In the main text of the book, family names are cited after
given names.
2 “Newhalf” is a play on the Japanese-English term “half” (ha-fu) designating a child of mixed Japanese and foreign descent. First used by Osaka drag
queen Betty in 1982, “newhalf” designates male-born persons working in the entertainment trade who have adopted various degrees of feminization.
3 Onabe is literally a “pan” and refers to female-born persons who have taken on various degrees of masculinization, often working as hosts and in other
jobs in the entertainment world. It references the term okama or “pot,” used for effeminate gay males (with pot being a slang term for backside).
6 7
West in the early 1990s. Because he represented surgery gave new visibility and legitimation to Mandy, a cabaret owner who specializes in the prohibiting same-sex sexual acts or stigmatizing
an officially registered party, the NHK, Japan’s many transsexual persons. The Internet was an kind of drag shows that have been a staple of LGBTQ identities. Prejudice has different roots in
– –
state broadcaster, was required to give Togo important part of this boom as it allowed LGBTQ Tokyo’s gay world since the 1950s. Ai Haruna is North America or Europe and, while traditionally
airtime to promote his policies. He appeared young people especially, from all corners of Japan, a significant figure here, coming from the newhalf there has been some truth to the adage often
on television dressed in kimono, wearing light to find like-minded fellows, seek out information cabaret world and using her celebrity status to applied to Japan that “a nail that sticks out gets
makeup and using his feminine-inflected Japanese and support, and join networks. The activists draw attention to her message of acceptance and hammered down,” as the stories collected here
to criticize the narrow perimeters of the associated with the Shinjuku drop-in center, akta, call for an end to prejudice. Ai brings together show, this is increasingly less the case.
“salaryman” lifestyle. These broadcasts were featured in this volume, have played an important two important strands of LGBTQ visibility in So what is it like to be LGBTQ-identified in
viewed by millions. role in this consciousness raising, offering a wide Japan—that of the entertainer and the activist. Japan today? As these stories and photographs
It was not until the early 1990s, though, that range of services in an area of Tokyo previously Members of the electro act Apotheke do this, too, show—it depends. Just like in North America, or
the media began to comprehend LGBTQ identities known only for its gay bars and saunas. through their outreach activities in the tiny rural anywhere else, the experience of being an LGBTQ
as part of a developing human rights discourse. In this collection, we meet a wide variety of village in which they are based. We also meet person depends on who you are and who you
It was at this time that Japan was swept by its Japanese LGBTQ people—some who come from Yoshiki, an Episcopal priest who offers services know, your family background, and where you
second “gay boom”—a widespread interest in the entertainment world, others who are more in Shinjuku’s gay town. Christianity is a minority work and where you live. The individuals in this
gay (and to a lesser extent lesbian) issues that involved in activism, and others contributing to religion in Japan, and the established religions collection have met various responses to their
resulted in numerous magazine articles, television the community in different ways. For a long time of Buddhism and Shinto have not had much to coming out—as could happen anywhere. The
documentaries and interviews, coming-out stories, LGBTQ people have found a space to live and say on the topic of sexual orientation. This is an great strength of this book is that it allows us into
books, and movies. LGBTQ organizations began to work in the entertainment world, known as the important point since, although prejudice and the lives of real LGBTQ people in Japan, if only
–
proliferate across the country, organizing annual mizu shobai or “water trade,” due to the often discrimination certainly exist, Japan is a more briefly. It presents us with their own images and
pride parades in major cities, offering health fleeting nature of the work there. The collection secular country than the United States. There stories based on their own words and worldviews.
advice and support—especially concerning HIV/ introduces us to individuals who still make this are no religious-backed hate groups to poison the Let’s put aside what we think we already know
AIDS—and challenging discriminatory policies world their home, like Chiga, the owner of Gold discussion around issues such as gay marriage about Japan and open ourselves to this diversity
at local and national levels. At the end of the Finger, a lesbian bar that has been a key part and adoption as in North America and elsewhere. and the message of tolerance and hope that
decade, the legalization of sex-reassignment of Tokyo’s lesbian scene for decades. We meet Likewise, there have been no religion-inspired laws it delivers.
8 9
東
Tokyo
京
Tokyo at night,
an electrical poem—a
labyrinthine megalopolis
crisscrossed by
monorails, railways,
and elevated highways.
Seven rivers flow
through the city
into its bay, while
the Okuchichibu
mountains mark its
westernmost boundary.
10 11
dy マンディ
n
a
M
Mandy is the owner of In his early twenties, he and other shows. His
Mandy, a cabaret club went to fashion school revue, The Convoy Show,
in Roppongi in central and met a woman there became a hit, moving
Tokyo, an area known who was a dressmaker. along with the original
for its nightlife. The club Because she had a sewing cast to mainstream big
is famous for its all-male machine and he visited theaters. He took part in
Broadway dance revues her all the time, they all aspects of the production,
and drag shows. Mandy ended up living together. designing and sewing the
can often be found “I can say that I feel more costumes as well.
greeting his customers in comfortable with men,” he
a woman’s kimono. says. “I lost my virginity His nickname by then
to an African American was Hiroko—a feminized
Until high school, he man in Hawaii.” version of his family name.
lived in Hokkaido: “I was
into sports as a child, not Mandy became a manager When the musical The
questioning my sexual and host of a small Kiss of the Spider Woman
preferences, until I arrived izakaya (restaurant), played in Tokyo, its
in Shinjuku, Tokyo, around dressing in mesh stockings main star went regularly
when I was eighteen.” and an afro wig, and to his club after each
One day, while in a started meeting people who performance and took his
teahouse, he noticed the organized all-male dance cues from Mandy. “Don’t
attractive clothes of the revues in the Ni-cho–me try to be too womanly or
staff and applied for a and Akasaka districts of too manly, be natural.”
job. He was hired. While Tokyo. Mandy, who has Mandy told him not to try
working there, he saw a a fondness for Broadway and act, but just speak his
cross-dresser for the first musicals, went on to lines from the heart.
time. Then he started create the all-male tap-
going to discos. dancing troupe “Tap Tips”
“Find yourself and do what you want to do.
A man is a creature who always works and makes money
. . . so do what you enjoy.”
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