Papers by Kazuyoshi Kawasaka
Sexualities, 2025
With the internationalization of LGBTQ human rights politics and issues, embassies often play a s... more With the internationalization of LGBTQ human rights politics and issues, embassies often play a significant role as a bridge between local LGBTQ situations and global politics. Despite being a G7 member, Japan largely lacks laws to protect LGBTQ rights, such as an anti-discrimination law and the legalization of civil unions or same-sex marriage. This paper examines foreign embassies in Japan and their activities in relation to LGBTQ rights. Through interviews with embassy officers, this paper analyzes the embassies' activities from four viewpoints: democratic values and universal human rights; cultural diplomacy; the role of LGBTQ-identifying diplomats and officers; and affective diplomacy.
The 2010s was an epoch-making decade for LGBTQ+p eople in Japan. The cultural and political repre... more The 2010s was an epoch-making decade for LGBTQ+p eople in Japan. The cultural and political representation of sexual minorities became mainstream in many areas of Japanese society in ways that werereminiscent of, but considerablydifferent from, earlier periods. While LGBTQ+i ssues in Japan have receiveds cholarly attention since the 1990s¹,t here is little scholarship in English that focuses on developments after 2000,let alone the 2010s. With this volume, we aim to bridge this gapb ys hedding light on political and cultural representationso fa nd by sexual minorities in Japan from the 2010s, making available in English novel perspectives on LGBTQ+i ssues in Japan. In the following sections, we outline the major sociopolitical developments in the Japanese LGBTQ+context during the decades leading up to the 2010s, to provide the necessary context for amore nuanced understanding of the issues discussed in the papers included in this volume. Early activism: Challenging the heterosexist status quo Japan nevercriminalized sexual activities betweensame-sexpartners, nordid it outlawcross-dressing, except forashortperiodbetween1872and 1880.Inaddition, Japaneselaw provides theoptionofadult adoption,asystem sometimesusedbysamesexcouples to circumvent property,inheritance,and otherfamily-relatedissuessuch as hospital visitation rights or legalguardianship of one'spartner.Since thea uthoritiesd on ot prosecutes exualm inoritiesa nd adulta doptiono fo ne'ss ame-sexp artnerispossible, Japanmight be considered "tolerant" toward LGBTQ+ people.But tolerancei mplies prejudice. Moreover,m odernJ apaneses ociety hasb eens hapedb y male-centered, heterosexist,a nd cis-genderistn orms basedo nt he idealo ft he heterosexualf amilyand tendst os tigmatizen on-normative expressionsofg ender, sexuality,and kinship(Lunsing, 2001). Thesocialacceptanceofsexualminoritiesisalso oftenunfairlydistributed by gender,a sw ella sb yclass,r ace, ethnicity, andn ation
The 2010s was am onumental decade for the progresso fL GBTr ights in Japan. LGBTr ights and discr... more The 2010s was am onumental decade for the progresso fL GBTr ights in Japan. LGBTr ights and discrimination cases became political topics in the mainstream media, attracting public interest.C ontrastingw itht he political climateo ft he 2000s, when it was rather exceptional for politicians and local governments to promote LGBTr ights,4 7l ocal ordinances had institutionalized same-sex partnership certificates and/ora nti-discrimination laws that included sexual orientation and gender identity by March 2020 ("Pātonāshippu seido," 2020). In February 2020, Naruhito became the first Japanese emperor to mention LGBTp eople, advocating diversity and calling for tolerance toward social minorities in ap ress conference on his birthday( The Imperial Household Agency,2 020). These political changes cannots implyb ea nalyzed in terms of the historical discourses of Japanese sexual minorities' activism. In 2016,S hibuyaW ard in Tokyo suddenly introduced as ame-sex partnership certificate system for the first time in Japan. Before that,Japanese LGBTactivists had rarely, if at all, argued for such as ystem, which is highlys ymbolic but,a sIwill discussi nt hisp aper,o ffers nowherenearthe same legal rights as heterosexual marriage(Enoki, 2019). In the 2000s, they had often discussed systems that offered legal rights to same-sex couples,s uch as the French civil solidarity pact (PACS; pactec ivil de solidarité), which is very different from contemporaryJ apanese models such as Shibuya's . Thus, the notable gapi nJ apan between the activist political agenda of the 2000s and the institutionalization of LGBTr ights in the 2010s indicates ad iscursivea nd political transformation. This paper will contextualize Japanese mainstream pro-LGBTr ights discourses and representations -an ew politicization of LGBTissues -within domestic and international political contexts and analyze how general Japanese attitudes toward LGBTissues changed in the 2010s. Firstly, this paper discusses three factors that have particularlychanged LGBT discourses and public attitudes in Japan in the 2010s, contributingt ot he mainstreamingo fL GBTp olitics in society:t he LGBTm arket; the use of LGBTr ights in US diplomacy;a nd the2 020S ummer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo. Secondly, it considers how Japanese local governments have become some of the main actors in the institutionalization of LGBTrights, even though they do not have the legal authority to changet he marriages ystem. Thirdly, it analyzes popular representations of LGBTr ights and visibility in Japan, focusing on whiteness, as Japan faces international, not domestic, political pressure to institutionalize LGBTrights Open Access.
Beyond Diversity Queer Politics, Activism, and Representation in Contemporary Japan, 2024
The 2010s was an epoch-making decade for LGBTQ+p eople in Japan. The cultural and political repre... more The 2010s was an epoch-making decade for LGBTQ+p eople in Japan. The cultural and political representation of sexual minorities became mainstream in many areas of Japanese society in ways that werereminiscent of, but considerablydifferent from, earlier periods. While LGBTQ+i ssues in Japan have receiveds cholarly attention since the 1990s¹,t here is little scholarship in English that focuses on developments after 2000,let alone the 2010s. With this volume, we aim to bridge this gapb ys hedding light on political and cultural representationso fa nd by sexual minorities in Japan from the 2010s, making available in English novel perspectives on LGBTQ+i ssues in Japan. In the following sections, we outline the major sociopolitical developments in the Japanese LGBTQ+context during the decades leading up to the 2010s, to provide the necessary context for amore nuanced understanding of the issues discussed in the papers included in this volume.
This book would not have been published withoutthe emotional, intellectual, and financial support... more This book would not have been published withoutthe emotional, intellectual, and financial support of so manyp eople, especiallyd uringt he COVID-19p andemic, which was at rying time for all involved in this project.Abig thank you goes out to our contributors. Despite heavy teaching loads and numerous other academic duties, you managed to meet the deadlines, alwaysr esponded carefullyt oo ur requests forr evisions,a nd provided us with invaluable insights. We are extremelygrateful to Andrea Germer and her team at theInstitute for Modern Japan at Düsseldorf University and VeraMackie of the University of Wollongong forp roviding us with the academic resources to develop and finisht his project.W ew ould also like to thank Shimizu Akiko and the Komaba Safer Space at Tokyo University,a sw ell as Tanaka Kazuko, Ikoma Natsumi, and the Center for Gender Studies at International Christian University for years of personal and intellectual support,a nd fort eachingu sh ow to fight the heterosexist norms within and outside of academia. We would like to express our appreciation to our copyeditor SaraK itaoji whose intricate knowledge of the English and Japanese languages and constructive criticism ensuredt hat each of our contributors found the right words to express their thoughts. We also owe our deepest gratitude to Anne Sokoll and Jessica Bartz from De Gruyter for believing in this project and patientlyg uiding us through the publicationp rocess. This project was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the individual research project Sexual Diversity and Human Rights in 21st Century Japan: LGBTIQ Activisms and Resistance from aT ransnational Perspective (Project no. 446477950). We are also thankful to Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf'sO pen Access Fund, which has enabled us to publish this volume with open access and make it available to aw ider readership. Finally, we would liket oe xpress our gratitude toward our partners, friends, and families. Each in their own wayp rovided support,c ritical feedback, and safe spaces to rest.Itisthanks to you that this book is now out in the wider world.
Beyond Diversity Queer Politics, Activism, and Representation in Contemporary Japan, 2024
The 2010s was am onumental decade for the progress of LGBT rights in Japan. LGBTr ights and discr... more The 2010s was am onumental decade for the progress of LGBT rights in Japan. LGBTr ights and discrimination cases became political topics in the mainstream media, attracting public interest.C ontrastingw itht he political climateo ft he 2000s, when it was rather exceptional for politicians and local governments to promote LGBTr ights,4 7l ocal ordinances had institutionalized same-sex partnership certificates and/ora nti-discrimination laws that included sexual orientation and gender identity by March 2020 ("Pātonāshippu seido," 2020). In February 2020, Naruhito became the first Japanese emperor to mention LGBTp eople, advocating diversity and calling for tolerance toward social minorities in ap ress conference on his birthday(The Imperial Household Agency,2 020). These political changes cannots implyb ea nalyzed in terms of the historical discourses of Japanese sexual minorities' activism. In 2016,S hibuyaW ard in Tokyo suddenly introduced as ame-sex partnership certificate system for the first time in Japan. Before that,Japanese LGBTactivists had rarely, if at all, argued for such as ystem, which is highlys ymbolic but,a sIwill discussi nt hisp aper,o ffers nowherenearthe same legal rights as heterosexual marriage(Enoki, 2019). In the 2000s, they had often discussed systems that offered legal rights to same-sex couples,s uch as the French civil solidarity pact (PACS; pactec ivil de solidarité), which is very different from contemporaryJ apanese models such as Shibuya's (Akasugi et al., 2004). Thus, the notable gapi nJ apan between the activist political agenda of the 2000s and the institutionalization of LGBTr ights in the 2010s indicates ad iscursivea nd political transformation. This paper will contextualize Japanese mainstream pro-LGBTr ights discourses and representations-an ew politicization of LGBTissues-within domestic and international political contexts and analyze how general Japanese attitudes toward LGBTissues changed in the 2010s. Firstly, this paper discusses three factors that have particularlychanged LGBT discourses and public attitudes in Japan in the 2010s, contributingt ot he mainstreamingo fL GBTp olitics in society:t he LGBTm arket; the use of LGBTr ights in US diplomacy;a nd the2 020S ummer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo. Secondly, it considers how Japanese local governments have become some of the main actors in the institutionalization of LGBTrights, even though they do not have the legal authority to changet he marriages ystem. Thirdly, it analyzes popular representations of LGBTr ights and visibility in Japan, focusing on whiteness, as Japan faces international, not domestic, political pressure to institutionalize LGBTrights Open Access. ©2 024 the author(s),p ublished by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the CreativeC ommons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Science across cultures, 2023
This chapter explores how LGBTQ activisms have challenged and negotiated with heteronormativity e... more This chapter explores how LGBTQ activisms have challenged and negotiated with heteronormativity embedded in nationalism in postwar Japan. In the history of Japanese queer politics, nationalism has been one of the central forces for both inclusion and exclusion of sexual minorities. It aims to examine how Japanese ethnonationalism has transformed Japanese queer activisms as well as how it has set the limitation for their political effectiveness. First, the chapter discusses how male homosexual political discourses utilised Japanese nationalism to join political struggles and points out that male homosexual and feminist discourses had a different approach to Japanese nationalism before the AIDS crisis. Second, it explores how the AIDS crisis changed the social gaze towards homosexuality and analyses political impacts of the emergence of sexual identity based on sexual orientation. Third, it considers how nationalist anti-gender movements influenced not only gender equality policy in Japan but also LGBTQ politics. Finally, the chapter discusses the limitation of LGBTQ activisms relied on by Japanese nationalism through analysing the Japanese long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s discourses on diversity and LGBTQ rights for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. As a conclusion, this chapter will point out that the limitation of postwar Japan’s LGBTQ activisms was attributed to the incapability of nationalism as a universal reason for social inclusion.
This paper examines the mainstreaming of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender/sexual) rig... more This paper examines the mainstreaming of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender/sexual) rights in North American and European countriesin recent years, and its international effects. This paper analyzes the rhetoricof President Obama’s LGBT Pride month declaration and the discourses ofthe Internet news media reporting about the LGBT pride month receptionat the US embassy in Tokyo. It argues that LGBT human rights contributes torepresentations of U.S. superiority as the advanced, liberated country andalso points out that such representations of U.S. superiority subtly obscurethe inequality and other human rights issues that the Obama administrationfaces. Further, this paper examines the arguments of “homonationalism” byJasbir Puar, which is one of the most influential theoretical works in queerstudies today and points out one of the weaknesses of her arguments: thedualism between the “West” and “Islam/other,” especially when sheconceptualizes a narrative of “U.S. sexual excepti...
This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of contemporary sexuality studies through a st... more This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of contemporary sexuality studies through a study of Michel Foucault\u27s The History of Sexuality Vol. 1: The Will to Knowledge which has had such a wide-ranging influence on queer theory and sexuality studies. The History of Sexuality Vol. 1 and subsequent research related to it will be examined from the perspective of how contemporary sexuality studies not only confront but also resist the concept of "sexuality" presented by Foucault. The analysis shall then be used to elucidate the characteristics of sexuality studies and the theoretical limits that arisefrom them. This paper focuses on the functions of Foucault\u27s discourse on "sexuality" and defines it as "latent" and "dangerous," for it is based on an idea of sexuality that is closely associated with power. Along with interpretations of a wide range of sexuality theories, a hypothesis is presented here: the politics of contemporary se...
Global Perspectives on Anti-Feminism: Far-Right and Religious Attacks on Equality and Diversity., 2023
This chapter will identify and discuss three discursive characteristics of ultra-conservative ant... more This chapter will identify and discuss three discursive characteristics of ultra-conservative antifeminist movements in Japan. Firstly, it analyses how the concept of ‘gender’ was represented as posing a threat to the foundations of Japanese national identity, that is, the so-called traditional family. Secondly, it will point out that a sense of national threat and anxiety was embodied by figures of monstrous minorities such as queers and sexual deviants, sometimes portrayed as snails or other dehumanised creatures. Thirdly, it explores the movements’ frequent focus on children who are represented as the fragile future of the nation, which is in danger of being harmed by feminists and LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender/sexual, Intersex, Queer) people.4 Similar characteristics can be found in European anti-feminist/anti-LGBTIQ rights movements, notably during the heated national arguments over the legislation of same-sex marriage in France. Although these movements developed separately and did not share the same core interest groups or religious beliefs, their similarities shed light on their political development and the role of emotions and homo-/bi-/transphobia. Finally, the chapter will discuss how ultra-conservatives and some ‘feminists’ are now repeating the transphobic discourses from the backlash movements in the 2000s to attack transgender rights and inclusive LGBTIQ social reforms in contemporary Japan.
Sustainability, Diversity, and Equality: Key Challenges for Japan , 2023
This chapter explores how LGBTQ activisms have challenged and negotiated with heteronormativity e... more This chapter explores how LGBTQ activisms have challenged and negotiated with heteronormativity embedded in nationalism in postwar Japan. In the history of Japanese queer politics, nationalism has been one of the central forces for both inclusion and exclusion of sexual minorities. It aims to examine how Japanese ethnonationalism has transformed Japanese queer activisms as well as how it has set the limitation for their political effectiveness. First, the chapter discusses how male homosexual political discourses utilised Japanese nationalism to join political struggles and points out that male homosexual and feminist discourses had a different approach to Japanese nationalism before the AIDS crisis. Second, it explores how the AIDS crisis changed the social gaze towards homosexuality and analyses political impacts of the emergence of sexual identity based on sexual orientation. Third, it considers how nationalist anti-gender movements influenced not only gender equality policy in Japan but also LGBTQ politics. Finally, the chapter discusses the limitation of LGBTQ activisms relied on by Japanese nationalism through analysing the Japanese long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s discourses on diversity and LGBTQ rights for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. As a conclusion, this chapter will point out that the limitation of postwar Japan’s LGBTQ activisms was attributed to the incapability of nationalism as a universal reason for social inclusion.
Proceedings from Najaks 2022, Studia Orientalia vol.124, 2023
The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme was introduced in the 1980s with the aim of culti... more The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme was introduced in the 1980s with the aim of cultivating international awareness and an understanding of cultural diversity in Japanese local communities by sending international teachers to schools across Japan. The programme has influenced LGBTQ+ activism in Japan—for example, in 1995, JET participants organized Stonewall Japan, which was one of the earliest LGBT+ groups in the public education sector in Japan and is still active. Based on interviews conducted in 2021 with former and current LGBTQ+ JET teachers, this paper investigates their experiences in everyday classrooms. On the one hand, these teachers experienced difficulties due to heteronormative gender norms in rural schools, including loneliness, rigid gender dress codes, students’ gaze, and limited access to LGBTQ+ communities. On the other hand, they negotiated the values and norms often transmitted in schools informally and unintentionally, especially the fixed gender roles and heteronormativity in the hidden curriculum. Although our interviewees had very limited influence on the official teaching curriculum designated by the Ministry of Education, and all remained in the closet in their schools, this paper interprets that a part of their teaching activities offered perspectives of diversity and made the existence of sexual minorities visible in Japanese education.
This thesis employs an approach of discourse analysis on male homosexuality in postwar Japan from... more This thesis employs an approach of discourse analysis on male homosexuality in postwar Japan from the viewpoint of the tense relations between Japanese cultural nationalism and the globalisation/Westernisation, along with the shifts of discourses of sexuality in the United States and the UK. Through analysing the discourses of sexuality in post-war Japan, I will theoretically indicate the historical and political relationship between problems of gender and sexuality, and national problems such as national identity between Japanese and Western cultures, ideal image of the nation, and its modern development. Firstly, I argue the works of Mishima Yukio (1925-1970), who is one of the representative writers in post-war Japan, especially famous for his gaythemed works and far-right political activism including his attempt of coup d’etat. Then, I explore the political dynamics of gay shame in Japan, focusing on Togo Ken (1932-2012), a pioneer of Japanese gay activism who had challenged nat...
Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics
Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics
Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics
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Papers by Kazuyoshi Kawasaka