This video is about 3 years old but for some reason I didn’t post it here on my blog. It’s on my English channel, which I’m rejuvenating (finally). So make sure to subscribe to this channel even if you’re already subscribed to my Japanese channel! Read more →
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 of my past videos are directly catered to that kind of audience, but here’s my serious attempt to create a repository of social justice vocabulary… 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 address them? Or should we all shut our mouths and let them be? Would that make us anti-feminist and anti-queer? 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 soundness using one of the homophobic arguments recently made by Japanese lawmaker Mio Sugita where she argues that students should not be taught about LGBT… 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.) 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 to really speak a second language naturally, you need to learn the culture as well. But, what if that second culture contains something bad, like… 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 those people make in their lectures/workshops, and explain why they are wrong. Read more →
“Hate crime is nonexistent in Japan,” “Japan only recently started having pride marches,” “homosexuality is accepted in Japan because of the traditional male-male shudo sexual/romantic culture,” “Japanese media are LGBT-friendly,” and “Taiga Ishikawa is the first openly gay politician in Japan” are all false! Read more →
Queer Filmmaker Graham Kolbeins talks about interviewing queer people, funding for queer documentary filmmakers, creative freedom vs focus, the Western gaze, the male gaze, the issue of representation of minorities, and his upcoming project Queer Japan. Read more →
There’s a debate on whether homosexuality is a preference or orientation. But is one better than the other? Let’s take a moment to go back in history to see how the idea of homosexuality was born. Read more →
