hello
my name is koro nishimura i am a
buddhist monk
a makeup artist and also an lgbtq
activist
as a makeup artist i have worked with
celebrities
and singers and also at the backstage of
miss universe competition
as a buddhist monk well i was born in
this temple
but when i was young i didn't want to be
a buddhist monk
people often ask me okay so you have to
be a monk right
are you going to inherit the temple and
i hated
that they expected what i will become in
the future
i had questions like why do we have to
chant
and how can we be saved and do i have to
shave my
head i hated buddhism
so you might be wondering why i became a
makeup artist
and also a buddhist monk today i will
talk about a hope
that i discovered through the process of
becoming a makeup artist and also a
buddhist monk
when i was young i loved pink and disney
princesses
at kindergarten i used to wrap a cloth
around my head
and loved twirling not only i
role played a cinderella but i also
helped other girls to look like
cinderella
there were many handmade skirts so i
would tell them to wear one around their
waist and another one around their head
by helping other girls to look like
cinderella i felt like their fairy
godmother
at elementary school i started to hang
out with the boys as well
wrestling playing with mini cars
with the girls i was playing with barbie
dolls
i felt that i can communicate and
empathize with
both boys and girls boys are often
associated with blue
and girls with pink but i felt like
purple blue and pink mixed together
one time all of the students needed to
order
paint set for art class and the only
options were either
blue or pink i couldn't identify myself
with blue
and i didn't want to get pink either
i wish there was a purple option
this gap between boys and girls became
bigger
as i grew older at high school
the boys were only hanging out with the
boys
and the girls were only hanging out with
the girls
boys were always talking about baseball
and i didn't
even care to learn the rules
the girls were always gossiping about
the boys so to have me
in their group was so not cool so i
became isolated
i didn't feel that i'm men enough or
woman enough
i wasn't either blue nor pink
i feel like a different type of gender
maybe like
yellow i was looking for an environment
where i can live as myself
at that time i started watching a lot of
american movies
because i thought maybe in the us i can
be myself
people will respect me for who i am
so after graduating from high school i
decided to study at a college
in boston my life in boston became much
freer
i started wearing makeup as well i
bought my first eyeliner
and mascara because in boston a makeup
counter
really made of men and really glittered
the transgender woman
would sell them so i felt welcome to do
when i was in japan the clerk would try
to help me but she would ask me
okay so is it for your mother or your
girlfriend
and i couldn't say it was for me so i
didn't play with makeup in japan
but i learned that makeup can actually
make me confident
another happy thing i made a friend i
was so happy because i didn't have any
friends at high school
but i noticed there was something wrong
with her makeup
she was putting on blue eyeshadow
without looking at a
mirror so there was a gap between her
eyelash
and the eye shadow i wasn't an expert of
makeup back then but i knew that it was
a big no-no
so one night i decided to do her makeup
when i did her makeup she transformed so
much and we were
both so excited she was like oh i look
like this
she was a shy person but i could feel
her confidence was lifted
and what was so interesting was that
even after the makeup was washed away
her confidence was not washed away it
was still there
at that time i only knew how to do
eyeliner and mascara but if i know how
to do eyeshadow
foundation or lipstick i knew i could
make her even more confident
my fairy godmother spirit was burning up
and that was the beginning of my makeup
artistry
later i moved to new york to study at
art school
that's when i started to assist a makeup
artist
living in new york where everybody is so
diverse
the culture is so colorful i realized
that
everybody is different so it's okay to
be me
i gained confidence to dress myself
freely
including wearing jewelry and heels
after graduating from the art school i
was thinking what should i do with my
life
because i was born in a temple
inheriting the temple was one of the
options
but i didn't know enough about buddhism
so in order to solve all the questions i
had
i decided to join the hmong training
[Music]
when i joined the hmong training it was
tough
we had to wake up around 5 30 every
morning
and chant really loud with our legs
crossed
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is
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like this for about an hour to two hours
five times every day for two to three
weeks
so i lost my voice and i was coughing
but the teacher was so scary and he
would yell at me to chant
loud one time i went to the restroom and
i spot
and i saw blood
we also learned about many presets such
as
monks do not wear makeup do not wear
accessories
do not watch dance do not listen to
music
and do not sleep on high beds
really are these relevant today
it sounded so illogical to me
and i wear makeup and heels do i have to
quit being who i am once i become a
buddhist monk
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we also learned about many
choreographies and rituals
and i noticed some of them are divided
into man and woman
but i don't know if i'm a man or woman i
might be both
i thought by me becoming a buddhist monk
i might degrade the impression of
buddhism maybe i'm going to offend the
other monks
because of my existence then i don't
want to be a monk
in the end of the training there was a
well-known
well-respected master who came to our
temple to teach
so i decided to ask him
he said the most important message of
buddhism
is that everybody can be equally saved
sexuality gender it doesn't matter
also japanese buddhism has evolved
and some of the monks are also teachers
also doctors and they wear watches or
different clothings depending on what
they do so if it helps you to spread the
message of equality
i don't think you wearing something
shiny as a problem
i was saved by his logical
flexible and forward-thinking answer
as i was struggling i know there are
many people who are feeling
obligated to fit into either man or
woman
or feeling pressured to have to follow
the rules
he also talked about amida sutra it
talks about heavenly pure land
and it says red lotus flower should
shine in red
blue lotus flowers should shine in blue
yellow lotus flower should shine in
yellow and white lotus flowers should
shine in
white which means all the diverse people
all the different personalities they
should shine in their own color
when i was hating buddhism for about 20
years
i learned that buddhism was actually
supporting me
since 2000 years ago
by this process of becoming a buddhist
monk and a makeup artist
i discovered that there is a hope and
potential
hidden in unique colors
for example i used to feel like purple
because i am both blue and pink
i am both man and woman
if purple exists it can be a bridge
between blue and pink it can
connect different people
another example i also felt like yellow
if yellow exists by collaborating with
blue
it can create green if yellow exists
by collaborating with pink it can create
orange and orange and green
are the colors that were not possible if
not for yellow
i used to feel in theory of my sexuality
and try to hide it but i noticed that
because i am different
i can be a hope or potential
the key is to realize that
our own unique color is a hope
and it's a great thing
and now i found my mission my mission
is to protect all the colors of
different people
and help them to shine in their own
color
i started doing lgbtq friendly makeup
seminar
i have an opportunity to help a
transgender woman
shine in her own color as a buddhist
monk i have started talking
that everybody and anybody can be
equally saved
at different temples i might be using
new makeup cosmetic product or
ancient old buddhist wisdom but i'm
using them with the same
spirit and there is something
only i can do because i am both makeup
artist and a buddhist monk
so now i would like to ask you what is
your true color
and how do you want to shine in your own
color