Hi there! My name is Masaki (Twitter @QueerESL). I’m a Japan-based queer critic and YouTuber who creates stuff mostly about and against 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.
Me at Chicago Pride 2011, posing for the camera & holding a sign that says “Immigrants ≠ Your Homophobic Other.”
Writer & Speaker
I’ve 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. Please use the form below to contact me for business inquiries.
Media
2019 | Documentary film QUEER JAPAN by Graham Kolbeins
2019 | PinkNews Snapchat story series “Being Gay in Japan is HARD” (accessible only via smartphone apps)
2018 | Chatty AF (Anime Feminist Podcast) Episode 72 “BL Manga” with Devin Randall and Vrai Kaiser
In exploring non-text format mediums for expressing myself, I started vlogging in 2015 on YouTube (Japanese / English).
In 2017, in addition to my interest in queer photography, I took up drawing to better visually express myself. See my Instagram art account for more drawings and photography.
An illustration by me of African American female singer Gloria Gaynor famous for her song “I Will Survive.”
A brushwork of a race-unspecified, gender-unspecified youth with a caption saying “MANGA CHARACTERS ARE NOT NECESSARILY ASIAN.”
A brushwork of an angry feminine-looking person with caption “NO, KAREN WHITE IS NOT REASON ENOUGH TO LOCK UP TRANS FOLKS IN WRONG PRISONS.”
One of my six illustrations that appear in mika’s zine.
I’ve also loved making music since I was 11. Combining electro-pop and kayokyoku, I have made some queer-themed songs which you can listen to on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUh8uLksAKvJeMOq9YbPBVyg&v=9RB3f0RKXe8
FAT CATS Bar & Grill
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.
FAT CATS Bar & Grill
Donate to Masaki so he can keep creating videos, illustrations, and writings related to LGBTQ+ issues.
When I started college, there already existed prides and rainbow flags. I didn't have to create queer spaces to join or queer symbols to identify with. They were there, and I'd join rainbow-filled events and groups. And I was constantly disappointed with how those events were trans-indifferent, gay men-centered, obsessed with money and reputation, anti-intersectional, ethnocentric, disability-unfriendly, male-dominated, etc. etc.
One of the reasons I started this channel was because I had activist/scholar friends who struggled with English when communicating with fellow activists, researchers, scholars etc. from other cultures. I wanted to help them. Some Read more…
How do we talk about sexism, heterosexism, and ciscentrism in anime/manga when it’s part of “their culture”? Can we criticize misogynous, homophobic and transphobic anime/manga without being ethnocentric and arrogant? What’s the best way to Read more…
In this English lesson video, I explain to ESL learners the meaning of the word “sound” in the sense of an argument being logical and based on truth, then move on to explain validity and Read more…
Language is a weird thing. It’s external but also integral to our human psyche. By the time you’ve learned to speak, you become situated, recognizably to all including yourself, in the world. But if language Read more…
Consumers and creators of BL are often the target of online harassment and attacks. But I think there’s misogyny and homophobia behind that. (This video is in Japanese but subbed in English.)
Music has always been my passion since I started taking piano lessons at 10. I got my first Mac (the rounded, classic CRT iMac!) at 14 in 1999 and started making music on it. I Read more…
How do I say “bless you” in Japanese when someone sneezes? Why do Japanese people say “itadakimasu” (I shall take/eat it) before eating something? Well, language and culture are closely tied to each other. And Read more…
There is a growing number of educators, public speakers, workshop organizers etc. who publicly talk about LGBTQ issues. But not all of them are good. In this video I share with you some common mistakes Read more…
Contact form
Business inquiries only (writing / speaking / etc.)
*No translation or language exchange. *I refuse to be your “native informant” unless you pay extremely well.
Find me at FAT CATS
You can visit me at FAT CATS Bar & Grill anytime between 5PM & 11PM, Tuesday through Sunday, at Honcho 4-1-8, Tatebayashi, Gunma 374-0024 JAPAN. barfatcats.com
Phone
Currently unavailable. Please use the form to reach me.
