I’m 20 years old and planning to study abroad for 1 to 2 years in either Tokyo or Nagoya. My universitry offers study abroad programs in both cities. I was born male and I have lived as a gay man, but within the last few months I’m actually questioning my gender identity and expression more and more. BUt, I worder the title like I did because I still pass as a gay man, and as far as I know, most people in Japan would see and treat me as a male, because it seems like the concept of being non-binary is still not as well known.
I like to wear feminine acessories sometimes, like butterfly hair clips, flower clips, and bows in my hair. I even have both a men’s and woman’s kimono at home. Through out my life, my speech and body language has pretty much always leaned feminine. However, I am aware that what mannerism are considered feminine and masculine varies quite a bit between American and Japanese culture.
I am also aware that I would still face the discrimination that most foriengers do. But also to an extent, some of the societal norms would not be pressured on to me as hard as a native Japanese person would have them.
Will all of that established these are the main concerns that I have:
Will I face more frequent and more severe discrimination and even harrassment for wearing things that are more feminine? Such as hair accessories, make up, clothing and feminine kimonos?
If so what does that discrimination look like? Would people verbally or violently harrass me if I dress more feminine?
Would it make my time in Japan easier if I were to pass more as a straight man?
What does LGBTQ+ health and mental health care look like in Japan, specifically for forienger students?
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**I’m planning on studying in Japan for 1-2 years, what is the reality of being a feminine gay man in Japan?**
I’m 20 years old and planning to study abroad for 1 to 2 years in either Tokyo or Nagoya. My universitry offers study abroad programs in both cities. I was born male and I have lived as a gay man, but within the last few months I’m actually questioning my gender identity and expression more and more. BUt, I worder the title like I did because I still pass as a gay man, and as far as I know, most people in Japan would see and treat me as a male, because it seems like the concept of being non-binary is still not as well known.
I like to wear feminine acessories sometimes, like butterfly hair clips, flower clips, and bows in my hair. I even have both a men’s and woman’s kimono at home. Through out my life, my speech and body language has pretty much always leaned feminine. However, I am aware that what mannerism are considered feminine and masculine varies quite a bit between American and Japanese culture.
I am also aware that I would still face the discrimination that most foriengers do. But also to an extent, some of the societal norms would not be pressured on to me as hard as a native Japanese person would have them.
Will all of that established these are the main concerns that I have:
Will I face more frequent and more severe discrimination and even harrassment for wearing things that are more feminine? Such as hair accessories, make up, clothing and feminine kimonos?
If so what does that discrimination look like? Would people verbally or violently harrass me if I dress more feminine?
Would it make my time in Japan easier if I were to pass more as a straight man?
What does LGBTQ+ health and mental health care look like in Japan, specifically for forienger students?
​
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I don’t know about Nagoya, but Tokyo has a pretty open LGBTQ+ community.
As a foreign student, I don’t think you’ll encounter someone who would have problems with your sexuality or the gender you decide to present yourself as. I’ve met plenty of straight Japanese men that have more metrosexual presentation and if they went to my hometown in the US 90% of people would assume they’re gay on the spot. Makeup for men is also slowly becoming popular because of pressure over appearance (I literally saw on the news a few weeks ago that a makeup company was teaching men how to use it).
I actually had a transgender coworker at my last workplace and everyone seemed to accept her (of course I’m not Japanese, so bullying could have gone on that I didn’t know about).
Anyway, as a foreign student I think you’ll have such such limited interaction with Japanese society that you’ll probably never interact with someone who would openly have something against you. Even if you did encounter some super conservative person, they’d maybe say something under their breath in Japanese that you probably wouldn’t understand and then shuffle away. I wouldn’t be too worried.
Have you seen Worldofxtra? He doesn’t have much details about his experience of being gay in Japan specifically, but you might be interested in places he’s going and how he’s being treated there, things like that
If you’re on Facebook, join Stonewall Japan and I’m sure you’ll get a lot more info!
In Tokyo or other major cities in Japan, there isn’t a prevalent display of aggressive discrimination against sexual minorities, though some passive incidents do occur. Many individuals, both straight and LGBTQ+, wear feminine clothing as a fashion statement, and there’s generally little cause for concern.
It’s often noted that Japanese people care about how others think and act, but they don’t pay much attention to random people on the street. According to my experience, people in the West are more likely to comment on how others dress.