Queering Japan : exploring narratives in the community of queer migrant event organisers in Tokyo : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

Tokyo is a large densely populated city that is home to many LGBTQ+ immigrants. While Japan is generally considered to be a tolerant country in which Queer people can live peacefully, there are a lack of legal rights and protections for this population and Queerness is in many ways still socially stigmatised. To foster community and provide places of safety and belonging for other LGBTQ+ people, some Queer migrants create and coordinate events and spaces of inclusion. This study explored the lived experiences of six Queer migrants who have created such Queer spaces in Tokyo, Japan. The research was designed utilising principles of community psychology and participative research with an autoethnographic foundation. Participant experiences were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed using narrative analysis. All participants reported being committed to providing safe and joyful spaces for the local LGBTQ+ community in Tokyo while attempting to expand the event types available and implement fair inclusion policies. Key narratives that offer context for the development of these spaces included migration facilitating participant explorations of their Queer identities and coming out somewhere new. Participants also storied the challenges and advantages of navigating Japanese society as an out Queer migrant, positive and negative experiences engaging with existing Queer spaces in Tokyo, and growing concerns around heterosexual rupturing of Queer spaces in Japan. This research contributes to the growing field of Queer migration studies and is a response to the call for more studies to be conducted within this community. Future studies could expand upon key findings identified in this research and allow for growth in the field of the rarely researched population of LGBTQ+ migrants.