Category Archives: Essays

One at a Time

I wanted to title this essay “How my Crude, Cynical, Obtuse, Straight Japanese Friend Gives me Hope about the Future of LGBT Rights in Japan,” but in the spirit of progress, this message sent by text to a friend (with a more colorful word after “one”) seemed more fitting.

With the arrival of marriage equality in the United States, perhaps the moment is timely to talk about the gay rights movement in Japan, or lack thereof.

Pride Month Celebrations began in 2010 in Japan.

Pride Month Celebrations began in 2010 in Japan. Source

Well, it exists.  But it’s in its infancy.

While they don’t experience the open persecution seen in Russia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa, LGBT people in Japan are locked in the prison of strict social customs. Most gay men in Japan seem to either be foreigners or partially to completely in the closet, which is why I’ve had to change their names in this post. They probably have a long way to go in an isolated, patriarchal society where older people hold all the keys over a submissive youth.

But the tide will turn, and I know that because of Yuu Koyama.

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Japanese People Can Write Better Than You In Any Language

Screen shot 2015-01-22 at 11.40.15 PM

Surprises are big and small when you live abroad.

I am not sure how obvious this is to most people, but something that intrigued me about Japan is how everyone I encountered seemed to be able to read the Latin Alphabet.  Japanese people appear to read Latin characters, or in Japanese, “Romaji” (when he visited, my brother most eloquently asked “when you say Roman characters, you mean English, right?”) nearly on pace with native English speakers.

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How to Observe D-Day in Japan

This will be a short note.  I apologize to my millions of loyal fans, for whom I’m currently working on a new full-size entry about a recent evening in Osaka.  But I thought, living in a country virtually demolished by the victorious forces in World War II, I could leave a note on the 70th anniversary of that war’s most pivotal moment.

The year after D-Day was a historical period of extreme cultural exchange, perhaps not seen since First Encounter 450 years earlier.  Within weeks, the French farmers and villagers of Northern France, celebrating their liberation, were tasting Coca Cola, trying bubble gum, playing baseball and listening to American music for the first time.

Fast forward to today.  I work in Kyoto, Japan, the ancient capital of Japan and perhaps its most culturally valued, historically preserved city.

IMG_3420Walking through Kyoto, one sees a Burger King dominating the city center, a Starbucks filled with youth, two or three McDonalds’ every square mile, Disney movies filling the theaters, “New York” Pizza stands, Facebook users, Instagrammers, even Japanese apps are named in English, the word “vintage” everywhere, English signs everywhere (and I really, really mean everywhere), etc. etc.  Irrelevant but ironic is the widespread Japanese glorification of white people with blonde hair.

We’ve brought America to every nation on Earth, and it began on the beaches of Normandy 70 years ago.  I’m not sure how to feel about how far it’s come, but cheers to those who got the ball rolling, at high cost, and for the best reasons.  USA number one.

-Greg

Dissenting 101

Dissenting 101 was this writer’s sophomore thesis at the University of Maryland.  In addition to a senior thesis, sophomore history majors at the UMD are also expected to produce an extensive paper of individual research.

In this paper, the nationwide student rebellion of the late 1960s and early 1970s is investigated at the University of Maryland, with an eye toward understanding the motives and beliefs of the many student protestors.  This paper was submitted to UMD’s Janus Journal, which publishes ten undergraduate essays each year.  The essay was accepted and published in Janus Journal for the 2010-2011 school year.

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This is a reprint of a previous production by Gregory A Nasif. The pictures are iPhotos taken from cutouts of their newspapers, and are the copyrighted materials of those respective papers (cited above). They were presented at the 2011 Janus Journal Reception with the paper, but were not included in the original. If you would like to contact the writer, please email [email protected]

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