Masaki C. Matsumoto

Hi there! My name is Masaki @QueerESL and I’m a Japan-based queer writer, illustrator, and video creator who creates stuff mostly about heteropatriarchy. My preferred gender pronouns are he, him, they, and them.

I studied sociology of gender and sexuality in college (International Christian University, Tokyo) and graduate school (the University of Chicago), researching mostly straight women’s fight against sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia.

After spending my late teen years and early 20’s in New Zealand and the U.S., I am now back in Kitakanto (area north of Tokyo) where I’m originally from, working as the co-owner and co-manager at FAT CATS, a minority-friendly, discrimination-free dining space that my mother and I started in 2014.

I’ve also been freelancing since 2015 as a writer and speaker on various topics pertaining to gender and sexuality. Publishers include Seidosha, wezzy, wotopi, and Human Rights Association for Korean Residents in Japan. Hosts include universities, queer activist groups, professional associations, and ethnic minority groups. If you’re considering to invite me to speak at your event or in class, here’s a sample lecture and video. Also, I occasionally write in English on Medium.

I started vlogging in 2015 and drawing illustrations in 2017 to explore non-text formats for expressing myself. My illustrations appeared in mika’s Magical Time-Traveling Dog Therapy: a canine-assisted therapeutic modality for treating complex trauma without tearing time-space continuum (2018).

Media

• 2018 | Speak Out! Japan’s LGBTQ+ Community Responds to Politician Sugita’s Discriminatory Statements (Anime News Network)
• 2018 | Gay Japanese Vlogger Discusses Boys-Love in English-Subtitled Video (Anime News Network)
• 2018 | Documentary film QUEER JAPAN by Graham Kolbeins (to be out in 2018)
• 2016 | Global Voices profile by Navin Thompson (in English, Malagasy, Spanish, and Greek)
• 2016 | [Interview] Masaki C. Matsumoto, queer and feminist activist (Anime Feminist) – Esperanto translation is here.