featureIN NAKANO,IT DOESN’TMATTER IFYOU’RE GAYOR NOT.”THE COUNCILIS OPENNakano’s Wataru Ishizaka opensthe door for gay officialsBY MARTIN LEROUXis an open city—aplace where people whocome are welcomed,” saysWataru Ishizaka, city councillorfor Nakano ward. “I “Nakanothought this would be an easier place tolive in. And once I moved here, it was.”As one of only two openly gay menholding elected office in Japan, Ishizakahas a personal appreciation for Nakano’shistorical embrace of diversity. Atraditional resting spot for Ainu peopletraveling south from Hokkaido, as wellas a popular location for resettled Okinawans,Nakano today is home to variousethnic and sexual minority groups,including a large LGBT (lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender) community.“Nakano has the interesting quality ofbeing a place that absorbs many differentideas,” Ishizaka tells Metropolis.Ishizaka originally hails from Inagi cityin western Tokyo, where he worked asa volunteer with children with specialneeds. “As a sexual minority, I related tochildren with disabilities—another minoritygroup—and I thought there was somethingI could do,” he says. His desire tohelp led him to take a non-degree coursein developmental disorders, after whichhe obtained his teaching license andstarted working at a school for childrenwith disabilities in Nerima ward.“At the training school, there weregender-specific terms used for the children,and the teachers would try to getthe boys to behave more masculine andthe girls to behave more feminine. I didn’twant to be that kind of teacher. Whenteaching animals to children, they wouldpush lions and dogs to boys, and catsand rabbits to girls,” he laughs. “I was theteacher who asked the kids, ‘But aren’tthere female lions and male rabbits?’”The school’s location promptedIshizaka to move to nearby Nakano,where he took advantage of the opportunityto engage with the area’s wellestablishedLGBT community, and becameactive in volunteer work with localgroups. But he still wanted to do more.“[My partner and I] worked directlywith community groups, but it wasn’tenough—we needed to change the system.And for that to happen, we neededsomeone on the council.”A soft-spoken man with an indeliblesmile, Ishizaka first ran for office in 2007;he won in 2011. He now steps into anage where LGBT issues are slowly gainingacceptance in Japan, with even FirstLady Akie Abe joining the third annualTokyo Rainbow Pride event in April thisyear—an event in which Ishizaka alsofrequently participates.“There’s an increasing amount of support,but there’s still a lot of negativity,”Ishizaka says of the national climate towardLGBT concerns. “So it’s unrealisticto expect immediate change. However,there’s a sense that Japanese citizens’sthinking is changing significantly.”Ishizaka has always been aboutreaching out. “When I was a student,I wanted to be a social studiesteacher so I could protect groupswho were vulnerable in terms of humanrights: Those with special needs, LGBTpeople, foreigners, and so on,” he says.“I discovered my sexuality when I wasin elementary school, and I was confusedby it,” he reveals candidly, though theissue remains a sensitive one for him.“When I was 17, I became interested insomeone but didn’t want to reveal myfeelings to him in case it would bother him.“In time, I really wanted to tell himhow I felt before graduation. When I toldhim, he said he wasn’t gay and couldn’treceive my feelings—but he also said itwasn’t an issue that I was gay. After beingable to come out to the person I liked, Istarted telling my close friends.”He eventually told his family, thoughit took a while before they came around:“With my friends, many of them acceptedme as I was. With my parents, we clashedalmost daily for three years after I cameout before they could accept it too.”However, Ishizaka also acknowledgesthat there’s much work to be donebefore LGBT issues will be openly addressedand embraced by the Japanesegovernment. “Things can progress if theLGBT community raises its voice, butthey’re still hesitant. Unless they do this,the higher-ups may understand that thecommunity is having problems, but won’tknow what those problems are exactly.”That said, gay rights aren’t Ishizaka’sprincipal platform. “In Nakano, it doesn’tmatter if you’re gay or not,” he says. Rather,he uses his public position to serveas a voice for all vulnerable and underrepresentedcommunities.“As someone who lives in Nakano-ku,I sense this is an environment where it’svery possible to be accepted,” he beams.Ishizaka believes the future is bright foreveryone—especially in his city.LINGO BOXTayōsei ( 多 様 性 )= diversityShōsū-ha ( 少 数 派 )= minority groupGi-kai gi-in ( 議 会 議 員 )= councillorDō-sei ai-sha ( 同 性 愛 者 )=homosexual personKyōiku ( 教 育 )= education16
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