This does not mean that the Japanese fully accept homosexuality but they don’t have the history of hatred that I find to be common in the West. In many cases among younger people you probably won’t even have a reaction, it will be more of a “oh, okay” sort of response than a big deal. Not understanding is distinctly separate from rejecting and pushing away homosexuality (for foreigners). As a foreigner you are more likely to encounter confusion and non-understanding, but keep in mind that these two concepts are very different from homophobia. However, by reading a lot of responses from Japanese people I have to have a better understanding of how homosexuality is viewed.įrom what I can tell, for foreigners there is relatively little bigotry and homophobia in Japan – particularly when compared to the treatment that many Americans still receive when they come out. It’s a particularly difficult question because of the Japanese standard of politeness, which demands that if a subject might be embarrassing or upsetting to talk about – that usually means that you don’t talk about it. I’ve been asked this question a couple time by different people who were curious about what it mean to be gay* in Japan.
