Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Assignment 2: Ten "Interesting" Facts


  1. Dating even before the 1600s and until the mid 1800s, Buddhist priests, samurais, and other men were commonly involved with young and pretty males (Hawkins).
  2. Japan began to be influenced by European countries' negative views on homosexuality in the Meiji period (1868-1912) because they wanted to be seen as modern (Hawkins).
  3. In 2003, Aya Kamikawa became the first openly transgender elected official in Tokyo ("Setagaya OKs..."). 
  4. The Japanese word for "gay" is "gei" ("Japanese Gay...").
  5. Shinjuku is Tokyo's main gay district ("Homosexuality and...").
  6. The first ever Gay and Lesbian Parade in Japan was held on Shinjuku Street in 1992 ("Homosexuality and...").
  7. Gay organizations have a small number of members because most Japanese gays don’t want to draw attention to themselves ("Homosexuality and...").
  8. Tokyo is the host to a gay and lesbian film festival every year ("Tokyo International...")
  9. Japanese gays are not big on fighting discrimination ("Homosexuality and...").
  10. Japan is a society where conformity and social harmony are valued, but homosexual are often looked upon as outcasts ("Homosexuality and...").

4 comments:

  1. Hi, I honestly think that your topic is one of the most unique topics in class. I find it interesting to learn about topics such as this and other countries stance on homosexuality. I think it's worthwhile to learn about too. :)

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  2. I found your first fact really shocking. I never knew that Buddhists back then would see or be involved with "pretty" males. I figured for that matter they would get involved with Geisha's.

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  3. Woah Priest's were involved with males ....... 0___o never knew that

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  4. This is all completely shocking to me. I always thought that the Japanese had strict principals that you were forced to stick to especially in the early times. I didn't know they ventured out.

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