I have been an Airbnb experience host since 2018.It coincided with the campaign period, so many foreign guests came and enjoyed my experience of wearing a kimono, strolling around the temple, and having a simple tea ceremony.
When I was getting tired for hard work, a young woman from England told me, "It's nice to wear a beautiful kimono and walk around a temple, but I feel like something is missing." I was wondering what was missing from my experience, the writing in the profile of a girl who had booked as a solo traveller from the United States stuck with me.” I’m a queer woman.”
After researching the term, I felt it uncomfortable to interpret queer as 'quirky, weird'.
When I looked up what Q was about LGBTQ+, I found that it was an acronym for two words, questioning and queer. It seems that sexual orientation (what kind of sex you like) is not defined or intentionally undefined sexuality. It's easier to live if you don't dare to decide your gender identity or sexual orientation. However, sexuality is fluid in the first place, and it is natural that it may change, and such a turning point can also be called questioning.
It is also important to understand that gender is not something that can be decided in absolute terms, and that there is an identity that says, ``I don't have to decide my gender, I don't decide.''
“Queer just means no, I don’t do that. I don’t identify as a man. I don’t identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human.
I think now is the time to think about this in a broader sense. A lot of foreigners who came to my experience may have had various irritations, but they didn't have to show it before the coronavirus appeared. When I realized that the guests, who had been coming little by little after a long hiatus, were coming with completely different feelings than before, I finally understood the meaning of what a British woman had said to me a long time ago. What I lacked was to continue to think about my discomfort with the world, to talk about it, and to show that I can have hope for the way forward.
A country that is passionate about sports, a country that endlessly kills each other, the world today is in endless chaos. We were all worried and couldn't see the future, but many people were finally able to go on a trip. When I think about what it means to come to Japan again, wear a kimono, and experience Japanese culture, I think my queer sensibilities will help me.
If you live with patience while feeling uncomfortable with various things, your end will probably be harsh. The fact that there is a sense of incongruity means that there is a dormant will of one's own. Awakening one's own will and living according to one's own sense of values, even if friction with the world becomes intense, there must be a kind of joy that humans feel for the first time when they live freely. When you become able to recognize yourself, you will be able to see the other person for the first time and be considerate. If discomfort is a symbol of queerness, then it may be a sign of survival in the future, trying to sense danger by stretching an invisible net in the air, and expressing, appealing, and creating something on top of that. I feel that if I don't live with my heart and soul, I won't have time.