Since the early 2010s, Japan has been amidst a growth in media, scholarly, political and societal discourse surrounding sexual and gender minorities known as the LGBT Boom. Examples of this Boom include the passage of same-sex partnership ordinances in municipalities across the country and a significant increase in television shows featuring same-sex romances. The LGBT Boom is not a new phenomenon however, but rather the latest of a series of queer media booms since the 1990s in Japan.

This talk will examine sexuality and gender in the Japanese media during the LGBT Boom, introducing the issues surrounding queerness that are discussed in contemporary Japan and how these are then represented in media texts. I then locate my discussion within the broader history of media booms in sexuality and gender in Japan to highlight how, far from something limited to niche genres or subcultures, queerness is a core part of the Japanese media sphere.

Callum Sarracino is a joint PhD Student between the University of Sheffield and Tohoku University. His recently submitted PhD thesis looks at representations of queerness in the media during the LGBT Boom of the 2010s and 2020s, elucidating the wider processes behind the representation of sexuality and gender in the Japanese media. He also holds a research interest in the Omegaverse subgenre of Boys Love manga, and his article on the topic is forthcoming in the East Asian Journal of Popular Culture.

If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.

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