Despite the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride celebrations and the introduction of same-sex partnership certificates in Shibuya in 2015, discrimination against sexual minorities is still very much a reality for the LGBTQ community in Japan. Fast forward six years to the present day though, and the Japanese film industry offers a different narrative. From a young girl’s journey of compassion and acceptance through her uncle’s transgender partner in
Close Knit to a gay lawyer’s battle with love and self-resentment in
Three Stories of Love, these Japanese LGBTQ films strive to present a fuller and more human portrait of Japan’s LGBTQ community, reaching even wider audiences abroad, too.
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‘Queer Japan’ Documentary Introduces Japan’s Vibrant, Multifaceted Lgtbq+ Community
The documentary celebrates self-love, community and resilience
A documentary that explores the lives of Japan’s multifaceted LGBTQ+ culture has recently been released on streaming platforms. “Queer Japan,” a documentary by Canadian queer filmmaker, writer, and designer Graham Kolbeins, explores the lives artists, activists, trailblazers and just regular folks in Japan’s LGBTQ+ culture.
Queer Japan documentary introduces Japan s vibrant, multifaceted LGTBQ+ community · Global Voices globalvoices.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from globalvoices.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In spirit and substance, the adventurous new documentary
Queer Japan (★★★☆☆) reflects the ethos of “live and let live.” Leaving seemingly no LGBTQ+ stone unturned, the movie maps out queer scenes and spaces from Tokyo to Kyoto, Osaka to Okinawa, covering the mainstream and the underground, the artistic, erotic, and unconventional.
The film could be accused in its first half of overindulging a taste for the offbeat, focusing exclusively on sex and gender mavericks like gay manga artist Gengoroh Tagame. One of the movie’s more endearing characters, Tagame is interviewed inside a well-appointed S&M dungeon. Drag artist Margarette, an elegant vision of