Kanako Otsuji has changed the face of Japanese politics. In 2003, at the tender age of 28, Otsuji became the candidate to win a seat on Osaka’s assembly. In that seat, the politician pushed for social change, successfully passing a law allowing gay couples to rent housing together. Then, in 2005, Otsuji came out as a lesbian, thus becoming the first openly gay politician in Japanese history. Though the public embraced her, Otsuji found some opposition among her political peers, including, according to the Guardian, one anti-queer “comrade” who asked her if she planned on becoming a man.
Despite this ignorance - and her aides’ advice to keep a lid on it - Otsuji hasn’t given up her political dreams and has just joined forces with the Democratic party to launch a campaign for Japan’s upper parliament. Not surprisingly, Otsuji’s efforts rest on highlighting Japan’s diverse nature, a stark departure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s chimerical political conformity.
In a message on her website, Otsuji wrote:
I think there is a tendency to put forward one set of values and make it seem as though that is the only beautiful or right way. But the reality is becoming more diverse. Japanese society is not engaging with the wide range of people living in diverse ways, in terms of nationality, race, sex, age and disabilities.
Hopefully Otsuji’s countrymen will feel the same way.
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Andrew Belonsky Editorial Director
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Rock on okaa-san!
I’m pretty sure she’s not the only gay person in government. A lot of them are still in the closet, and pretty soon they have to get out of it.
It takes courage to do what she did. Japan is a strange and contradictory place for LGBT people. In the West, we tend to view truthfulness about our personal lives as a virtue. The Japanese just don’t talk about it (even though most of the time they already know the details and wouldn’t treat you any differently because of it).
Unlike in Muslim countries, homosexuality is legal in Japan. Male prostitution is unregulated by the law and Tokyo bans anti-gay job firings. As a primarily Buddhist and Shinto nation, there’s very little in the way of religious discrimination. There’s also no shame attacted to depicting same-sex love in books, comics, and television.
Yet, at the same time, it’s a deeply conformist society. ‘Coming out’ in the Western sense is seen as disruptive to social harmony. 99% of the people marry someone of the opposite sex. Many lesbians and gays also do this. Their homosexuality is often an open secret to their spouse, family, co-workers, and friends… but no one will actually talk about it. They can visit gay bars, buy gay porn, and even have lovers on the side. Just as long as they do everyone the favor of keeping it discreet, there seems to be little backlash.