The movement of publishing asexual book in Japanese area

http://twipla.jp/events/218465 (Facebook event page)https://facebook.com/events/1756147607984862/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D

They will translate the book into English or Chinese.

hmm… i went to Nijiiro Komachi’s “オフ会” (that’s what they promoted it as) for non-binary / Xジェンダー people a few months ago and was sorely disappointed…. rather than being an actual オフ会 (meetup), it was actually a meeting that felt at times to be very much the organization’s creator, Haruka-san (who is notably an ally rather than LGBTQIA herself), tactfully fishing for things that she could use for her organization. granted her organization is an NPO and anything she uses for the organization is going to help people who are LGBTQIA themselves, so she isn’t doing it for her own financial gain or anything… but it still felt misleading and even a little underhanded how she promotes her events and then utilizes the results from them without making it clear that that’s what she’s doing.

looking at this event, i’m getting a similar vibe although at least this time it’s clear what the goal of the event is. still, as admittedly jaded as i am now, i have concerns about the book / event…. i should probably just contact Haruka-san directly and ask to put them at ease, but eh. japanese. 

数ヶ月前ににじいろ小町が開催されたXジェンダー当事者の「オフ会」（「オフ会」として広告された）に参加して、がっかりしました…　行ってみたら本当はオフ会じゃなくて、まさに集会でした。しかも、時々は当事者のための集会じゃなくて、にじいろ小町が利用できるように当事者から意見やアイデアを得るための集会って感じでした… にじいろ小町はもちろんNPOで、セクマイ当事者の世話をなっているし、お金を得ていないし…でも、にじいろ小町の代表はる香さんは当事者ではないからこそそういう風に情報やアイデアを得るのが、まあ…納得できません。まあ、もしはる香さんは当事者だとしても納得できませんね。

せめて今回はイベントの目的は最初からはっきりに書いておりますが、そのイベントに対して自分自身の気持ちはまだビミョウです。イベントの目的は分かるけど、例の本についてあんまり何も。説明が足りなくて、質問が多いです。でも、はる香さんに連絡したくないなぁ…　日本語で聞くのが面倒です。 ┐(´д｀)┌ﾔﾚﾔﾚ

queerascat, thanks your reblog!(and writing in English and Japanese ;) )

Well, exactly, is it meet up? Or conference of making the book? Or gathering? It is ambiguous. But I think that is very possible the meetup would be for Nijiiro Komachi at first, for ace second. (I did not know Haruka, organizer of Nijiiro Komachi, is not asexual.) I have question "Why not Nijiiro Komachi will give out the book to school?" I think it takes precedence to translate.

I hope the event will be trigger for wave of publishing informations about asexuality in Japanese.

I have thought method of asexual activity in Japanese culture for long time.

Then, I have to think Japanese culture’s behaviour.

By the way, there is word “himote” in Japanese. Himote(who is not populated by people) is self-identity term, and Japanese distinctive concept.

Namely, Japanese self-identity includes evaluation by others.

Japanese self-identity melts into Sekentei. Sekentei is Japanese distinctive concept. It is vague, virtual people’s common sense(it does not exist clearly).

So, then, what do I discover about method of asexual awaness?

Changing Sekentei is very effective way to change mind of aces in Japanese culture, I think. Persuading directy Japanese aces to come out is less effective. 

I want to understand this, but my Japanese sucks, so bear with me, and let me know if my dictionary is incorrect.

himote 非モテ adj. ( な / の ) unpopular (esp. with the opposite [sic] sex)

sekentei 世間体 n. appearance (in the eyes of society), decency

My take:

In Western cultures, we tell many stories about the righteous individual who opposes a wrongful society and overcomes adverstiy. Our stories and culture are very individualistic and praise individual choices.

Collectivist cultures like Japan’s favor group work and finding one’s place within the societal whole. An individual who speaks out in opposition (or even exists in opposition) is seen as defiant, attention-seeking, or hurting the group as a whole by not working with it and within it. 

In both kinds of societies, LGBTQ+ (including asexuals) are more likely to “come out” if safe spaces have already been carved out for them. Individualist societies allow for some initiative on the part of the individuals by encouraging difference. 

I have a friend working on improving LGBTQ+ awareness and acceptance in her country (Japan), and she has said that while she likes the GSR part of the GSRM acronym, she is against the use of the word “minority.” It is extremely important, she says, if Japan is to improve in this area, for LGBTQ+ to always be addressed as normal and not different or separate in any way. 

@thingsfordragonag, i think your translations of himote/非モテ and sekentei/世間体 are correct, but i seems like you’re trying to contrast things with Western culture when that has nothing to do with what the OP is talking about…

i may be wrong, but my understanding of the OP is that in Japan:

self-identity = strongly influenced by public opinion (eg. being himote/非モテ or not)

himote/非モテ = strongly based on appearances/saving face/fitting in with the majority (sekentei/世間体)

so basically: self-identity (自己認識) ⇔ himote (非モテ) ⇔ sekentei (世間体)

if i’m understanding correctly, the OP’s opinion is that changing the general public’s opinion (ie. raising awareness?) would be an effective way to also change the minds of aces in Japan. however, that isn’t an effective way to encourage Japanese aces to actually come out.

Aセクシャリティについて意識を高められば世間体も変えられる。世間体を変えればAセクシャルの人の自己認識にも影響がある。でも、カミングアウトには影響ないかもしれない…ッて感じですか、 @harris-hijiri？

ah, sorry, @queerascat. i included a separator, but i probably should have further clarified that “my take” was not meant to be a paraphrase of the OP’s post, just my continued thoughts on the subject. for those of us who are from entirely Western backgrounds and considering living in Japan indefinitely, comparisons are inevitable and sometimes necessary until we can come to the point where we are able to understand the issues only in the context of Japan and Japanese culture. that’s why i ended with referencing my friend, who is Japanese and has been dealing with this subject very directly for most of her young life and whose experience on this i trust more than my own understanding. 

my understanding of the OP’s post was that it ends contrasting two methods of increasing awareness: a top down approach (changing public opinion first) versus bottom up one (encouraging individual aces to come out). in Japan’s culture, the former would be more effective, the latter, less so. 

but i’m still getting a grip on the abstract concepts, which could alter my understanding as they become more concrete for me. i do appreciate you spelling them out a bit. :)

to thingsfordragonag: Your understanding about 非モテ and 世間体 is right.

You use “western culture”, and perhaps you think that western culture is different clearly from Japanese culture.

 >Our stories and culture are very individualistic and praise individual choices.

If it is true, why does concept of “coming out” exist?? Individual choices are respected truly, the society has a variety as a natural result, and then, various sexualities are easy to be accepted? I think that Japanese culture is similar to “western culture”  at least about  acceptance of sexuality. Namely, there is pressure to accept sexuality in Japanese culture and western culture.

Dear social justice workers of all types, please be sure to take care of yourselves. You work for others, so try to work for yourself too. Your presence on this earth is needed. Your joy and your passions are needed. Feed the love you have for whatever it is you love. Make space for carefree-ness. We need you here.

Dutch ace meet-up in Voorburg

Hello Dutch aces!

There will be another meeting in Voorburg Saturday 13 February. It will be casual: talking, sharing experiences over some drinks and snacks. We have our own space. Asexual spectrum people of all stripes and questioning people are all welcome! So, don’t be shy.

If you plan on going, come say hi in this forum topic. You can find all the details (time, address, etc.) there too.

Also, psssst: if Voorburg is too far away, check out the Bijeenkomsten forum. There’s regular meet-ups in Nijmegen too (you can always find the date for the next meet-up in Nijmegen here), and occasional meet-ups elsewhere in the country.

(as always, signal boosts appreciated!)