I think only in Tokyo you get accepted and favorably treated that way.
Those people are positive and energetic, I get a lot of energy from them.
Hey guys and girls this is Cathy Cat and today I am here at Bunka fashion
college, one of the most famous fashion colleges here in Japan.
I have the pleasure to ask the people here what their opinions are on LGBT
and how members of the LGBT community are doing right now
here in Japan so let's ASK JAPANESE.
In my everyday, on the train and on my way to school,
people that are different stand out.
People give me weird looks. I wish stuff like that would disappear.
If things go on like this, and more LGBT people appear on TV
people might accept them more.
I want more people to be open and out about who they are.
Be bright and open, pop like about it.
It depends on the place.
Right now Shibuya is moving forward for LGBT people.
The more you go away from places like that, the more strict people become.
So if you just walk down the street holding hands, people's gaze changes.
Depending on where you are, there will be a gap after all.
LGBT is only accepted in Shibuya.
I think there should be more places in Japan that accept LGBT culture.
I think there should be more people who accept it.
Things like same-sex marriage...
... I think they should become normal in this world.
Right now people might still be taken aback by it.
Be more liberate.
I think marriage is still the most difficult to achieve issue.
There should be more sectors that allow that kind of marriage.
There are people like that on TV recently.
I think there is less discrimination and prejudice...
but there are still a lot of issues.
I think many people do not get accepted for how they are.
There is still a lot of discrimination.
Because we are a fashion school, it's easier for people to accept others.
But other people in society might think it's unnatural or hold prejudices.
?
In Japan we don't have an understanding of same sex marriage.
I think people should be forgiven for who they are.
Many people can't speak their mind openly about it.
I think it's hard for them to come out about it.
But if they do, I am willing to accept them.
I think a problem are the toilets.
The heart might be female, but they have to go to the male toilets.
It might be embarrassing for them.
First of all, everyone should know more about it.
You should not be prejudiced against anyone, really.
I have many gay friends so... I can't understand why some don't accept it.
I think it's the most natural thing.
I think I could totally go for girls if I wanted to.
I don't understand why it's forbidden for some.
I think LGBT people are only accepted on TV and schools like Bunka.
You see, I live on the countryside.
Until I came to Tokyo I had no connection to LGBT people.
I think only in Tokyo you get accepted and favorably treated that way.
When you are an adult you are free to do what you want with your life.
But when you are young, especially when you don't live in Tokyo...
On the countryside many people don't have a system to accept them.
Especially middle school kids, and others who might not yet have come to
fully understand their feelings.
They can't tell others about it either.
It's a tough environment.
I hope these things can be improved.
"This is something normal" is something that needs to be addressed
in kindergarten and from an early age.
I think it should be part of education to address it.
At Bunka there are a lot of people like that.
at first I was taken aback a little but...
once we started speaking we got along well.
Did you meant members of the LGBT community for the first time at Bunka?
Yes, I first found out about it and make friends with people like that here.
Seeing people like that walking around....
I don't feel as uneasy about it as it did before I came.
- Before Bunka, you felt uneasy? - Yeah, a bit.
But now I am open about it.
How do you personally feel about it?
I have come from the countryside to Bunka.
Since then I met a lot of people and made friends.
Do you feel more accepted? Are people more open here?
The people of Bunka a friendly and they have open hearts.
Well, comparing Bunka to other schools...
there are more LGBT members here.
Instead of "getting accepted" people here don't really care about it.
Instead of being bothered whether someone is gay or a lesbian...
you just link with people as a person.
It's a kind and natural exchange of culture.
Those people on TV are positive and energetic, I get a lot of energy from them.
On our variety shows people like that appear a lot.
They laugh a lot and make me laugh too.
Those people give a lot of smiles.
LGBT people on TV are really fun and seem to be so kind hearted.
I don't get a bad image from them at all.
Seeing people who show themselves on TV like that...
I admire that. They don't seem to worry what others think about them.
I think it's a new thing in Japan.
Up until now people in Japan held a prejudice against it.
?
I think things have started moving in the right direction.
I think due to that people are more accepting.
Instead of thinking too heavy about it those people on TV
are making it a light, fun and comical.
I think TV personalities like that have made it easier for us to get accepted.
I watched a movie recently.
And that movie had a love scene between two men in it.
I purely thought that they looked beautiful together.
It doesn't matter what gender you are.
Just respect each other. I think that's nothing to be uneasy about.
The younger people have started to change their thoughts and accepted others.
People should do as they please.
I can see things from a Middle age point of view. I think that's a good thing.
?
"Genderless men" is a recent popular term.
I think new movements like that are really good.
Things like that are sprouting on the SNS.
People like that can show themselves how they are. Others can share that.
So there is a growing base for that culture now.
And people who are like that, find a way to get accepted that way.
?
For reasons like that I think the development of the SNS is a good thing.
There is a movie called "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Watching that move has changed the way I feel.
I realized it doesn't matter what gender a person is.
The emotions people feel are in a different place than one's gender.
That's what I learned in that movie.
Japan still has a lot of discrimination and prejudice against people like that.
But people use fashion and similar to show who they are.
Society is not a thing that is unchangeable.
We should live in a world where it should not matter what someone is.
Let's make it like that.
I have a fun image of LGBT on TV.
So there are a lot of flashy people in the media?
I saw people like that on TV...
There are many people who are really original.
?
They tolerate more things.
They know a lot more than I do, I think I can learn from them.
Most look flashy but...
But their character and way they speak is really fun.
I enjoy watching them on TV
There are so many genres but they are all so liberate.
We have TV personalities like Ikko and Genking.
I think as long as they look cool or cute it's fine, right?
Genking is fun.
Genking is male and really handsome.
He often dresses up as a woman.
He really seems to enjoy fashion. That's what I can see.
- And that person is famous on TV right now? - Yes.
AyaBami!
They are two background dancers for the singer Shina Ringo.
They are really cool.
The lesbian sprouses AyaBambi are really cool.
Sprouses ? Have they married?
That's right. The two women are married to each other.
And they are also dancers.
Matsuko! Matsuko!
Don't know why but Matsuko is really popular on TV.
When seeing Matsuko I think it doesn't matter if you're bisexual or so.
Matsuko is pretty huge, right.
Matsuko has changed Japan.
I think Matsuko really changed Japan.
- Matsuko has had a big influence? - Yes.
Those were all the questions. Thank you so much.
We asked people at Bunka fashion college about troubles that people
of the LGBT community might be having here in Japan.
People said it's city VS countryside.
There is still discrimination.
What happens with the toilets and such.
There are a couple of things people are aware of
They know things still have a long way to go.
Especially members of the lesbian community are barely featured at all
Gay community a little bit more but interestingly enough
in the media, people of the transgender community are apparently
featured a lot more. There are a lot of famous people,
very rich and known people that are in the media here in Japan.
For example one of them, mentioned right at the end was Matsuko.
Matsuko is huge here in Japan. I see Matsuko in commercials,
I see Matsuko in lots of TV programs. It's a personality
that everyone definitely knows in Japan.
If you are curious about LGBT famous people here in Japan
We put down a couple of names we have Ikko.
Genking, Matsuko like I mentioned,
Ai Haruna is personally my favorite because Ai Haruna wears Lolita fashion.
There is also the lesbian dancer combo which we mentioned at the end
That was AyaBambi, if you want to look them up.
Finally we did a little bit more of a serious topic here on Ask Japanese.
I hope you enjoyed this, if you are curious about that
we'll do more topics around this. So please
leave us comments with your feedback so we know if you wanna find out more
facts about the LGBT community and maybe other genres and parts of the community.
I know there are many many other members of the community
of our rainbow community.
Let's find out more about that, if you are curious. Leave us a message.
I hope you enjoyed this video. We did another video at Bunka fashion college
about the LGBT community. I'll put that in the links.
Thanks for watching and catch you soon on Ask Japanese.