gay, bisexual, and transgender people) in Japan. But since neither Jun nor I are in

在日本，同志、雙性戀和變性者是一種特殊的社會群體。但由於我和 Jun 都不在

any way qualified to talk about it on our own we asked our Japanese viewers for their

我們沒有資格獨自談論這個問題，是以我們向日本觀眾徵詢了他們的意見。

opinions in an earlier video, and today I'm going to tell you what they said.

今天我將告訴你他們說了些什麼。

コメントしてくださった皆さん、本当にありがとうございました。 And just a quick disclaimer: we did our best

在此，我們要聲明：我們已經盡了最大努力。

to translate the comments but there were some areas that we couldn't understand well, or

我們翻譯了評論，但有些地方我們不太理解，或

other areas where I wasn't able to make the translation sound graceful in English.

在其他方面，我無法用英語將翻譯說得優美動聽。

First of all, a number of people brought up the point that Japan has a history of homosexuality.

首先，很多人都提到日本有同志的歷史。

Japan's never had a religious basis for disliking homosexuality, and a lot of famous military

日本從未有過不喜歡同志的宗教依據，許多著名的軍事家

commanders and samurai are well-known for having had homosexual relationships. A few

指揮官和武士因同志關係而聞名。一些

people mentioned that there wasn't really an issue with homosexuality in Japan until

人們提到，在日本，同志並不是一個真正的問題，直到

it opened up to the West. In Japan there's no religion that denies homosexuality

它向西方開放。在日本，沒有宗教否認同志

so it's not a sin. Homosexuality was never a sin or a vice--it was just something that

所以這不是罪。同志從來都不是罪或惡習--它只是一種

was always naturally there. So why should people have to say they're gay? I'm straight

總是自然而然地存在。那麼，為什麼人們非要說自己是同志呢？我是異性戀

but I've never made a declaration out of it. Until the Edo period there were gay samurai.

但我從未就此發表過聲明。直到江戶時代，武士中還有同性戀者。

Sengoku era military commanders such as Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who are very

戰國時代的軍事統帥，如織田信長和德川家康，他們非常

famous, swung their swords both ways. So for Japanese people gay love shouldn't be that

日本的同性戀者都是很有名的，他們的劍在兩邊揮舞。是以，對於日本人來說，同性戀愛不應該是那種

hard to accept. But I think that changed in the Meiji era when we started importing Western

很難接受。但我認為這種情況在明治時代發生了變化，因為我們開始引進西方文化。

ideology. How Japanese people view gay people nowadays

意識形態。當今日本人如何看待同性戀者

really depends on the person so you can't really say one way or the other. However,

這其實是因人而異的，不能一概而論。不過

Japanese people who know a lot of history are more tolerant of gay people than others

瞭解歷史的日本人比其他人更寬容對待同性戀者

because in Japanese history there are a lot of gay people who accomplished important things.

因為在日本歷史上，有很多同性戀者都取得了重要成就。

Like Fujiwara no Yorinaga who established the imperial system, and military commanders

如建立天皇制的藤原賴永，以及軍事指揮官

in the Sengoku period like Takeda Shingen, Oda Nobunaga, and Date Masamune.

在戰國時代，武田信玄、織田信長和伊達政宗等人都是 "武士"。

We don't have a religious taboo or historical prejudice against being gay. We're a country

我們沒有宗教禁忌，也沒有對同志的歷史偏見。我們是一個

where famous daimyos wrote love letters to their pages, so... And genres like yaoi and

大名寫情書的地方，所以......而像少女漫畫和

yuri are well-established now, too. It was customary for some samurai to have

現在，"百合 "一詞也已深入人心。一些武士習慣於擁有

gay lovers. Oda Nobunaga was well-known for that. It seems like 400 years ago he has a

同性戀者。織田信長在這方面是出了名的。似乎在 400 年前，他就有一個

relationship with a black male. The 3rd Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu liked good-looking boys more

與黑人男性的關係。第三代將軍德川家光更喜歡帥哥

than women. It seems like there used to be male gay people

比女性多。好像以前也有男同性戀者

in Japan and they were accepted before Western culture came into Japan. But after Western

在西方文化傳入日本之前，它們在日本已被接受。但在西方

culture came, they disappeared.

文化來了，他們又消失了。

In general it seems like a lot of people said that gay people tend to hide themselves in

總的來說，似乎很多人都說同性戀者傾向於把自己隱藏在

Japan. Knowledge about the differences between gay and transgender, and especially the varying

日本。瞭解同志和變性人之間的區別，尤其是不同性別之間的區別。

types of transgender seems to be pretty low. Konostack-san had the most highly upvoted

變性人的類型似乎很低。科諾斯塔克先生的投票率最高

comment, and said: I'm gay.

評論說我是同志

The first thing I want to say is that in Japan I've received almost no violence or verbal

我想說的第一件事是，在日本，我幾乎沒有受到任何暴力或言語攻擊。

abuse. Most people tolerate, or at the very least are polite to gay people, so I think

虐待。大多數人都能容忍同性戀者，或者至少對同性戀者很有禮貌，所以我認為

anyone can live happily in Japan. But understanding of gay and transgender people

任何人都可以在日本幸福地生活。但對同志和變性人的理解

is still pretty low, and there's a fair amount of prejudice.

仍然很低，而且存在相當多的偏見。

For example, TV producers lump the various sexual minorities together in a category called

例如，電視製作人將各種性少數群體歸為一類，稱為

"Onee" to drive up views, so you don't see Onee people who wear clothes, talk, or express

"Onee "來提高瀏覽量，所以你看不到穿衣服、說話或表達的Onee人

themselves emotionally in a way that's considered to be heterosexually male.

自己的情感方式被認為是異性戀男性的方式。

So if I come out as gay people will assume that I'm female on the inside, and they'll

是以，如果我公開自己是同志，人們會認為我內心是女性，他們會

assume I'm interested in cross-dressing or a sex change, like those entertainers who

假定我對變裝或變性感興趣，就像那些娛樂明星一樣

speak like Onee. So gay people don't come out because if they do that storm of prejudice

像Onee一樣說話。是以，同性戀者不會出櫃，因為如果他們出櫃，偏見的風暴就會來臨

pours down on them. But if you're just visiting, I believe there's

傾瀉而下。但如果你只是來參觀，我相信有

absolutely no problem and Japan is a safe country.

絕對沒問題，日本是一個安全的國家。

There are two traditional words for Onee-san in Japanese. The first means older sister,

在日語中，Onee-san 有兩個傳統說法。第一個詞的意思是姐姐、

but it can also refer to young, polite, feminine women, and the second refers to young (like

但也可以指年輕、有禮貌、女性化的女性，第二個指年輕的（如

in their 20s) women, like the word "miss" and is something you would use to call over

20多歲）的女性，就像 "小姐 "這個詞一樣，是你用來叫過來的

a waitress, for example. And if you remove the "san" and write it as katakana, it becomes

例如，服務員。如果去掉 "san"，寫成片假名，就變成了

Onee, which means gay men who talk effeminately but don't wear women's clothes or anything.

Onee，意思是說話娘娘腔但不穿女裝的男同性戀。

However, over the years the meaning has been distorted and now some people use it to refer

然而，多年來，這個詞的含義被扭曲了，現在有些人用來指代

to all transgender and gay men. It's a somewhat controversial term, and while it seems okay

所有變性人和男同性戀者。這是一個有些爭議的術語，雖然它似乎可以

to say it about entertainers on TV, a lot of people would be upset if you used it to

說電視上的藝人，很多人會不高興，如果你用它來

refer to them in person.

親自與他們聯繫。

People who look like men but on the inside are women are called Onee on TV. They're popular

電視上把外表像男人但內心是女人的人叫做 "Onee"。他們很受歡迎

entertainers. It seems like every TV program has an Onee. But in general society outside

藝人。似乎每個電視節目都有一個 "Onee"。但在外面的一般社會中

of a special place called Shinjuku 2-chome, gay people hide themselves. After all, it's

在新宿 2 丁目這個特殊的地方，同性戀者們隱藏著自己。畢竟，這裡是

not common to have gay friends in Japan. They might be there, but they're not "out" because

在日本，同志朋友並不常見。他們可能存在，但並不 "出櫃"，因為

of the atmosphere in our society. When I imagine gay people in Western countries

的社會氛圍。當我想象西方國家的同性戀者

they're sexy, macho guys. But I don't think there are very many gay people like that in

他們是性感的大男子主義者但我認為，在美國，這樣的同性戀者並不多。

Japan. You have even less of a chance of seeing lesbians on TV. Of course I'm sure they're

日本。在電視上看到女同性戀的機會就更少了。當然，我相信她們

there, but they're not "out" publicly. Onee people are popular at Shinjuku 2-Chome. So

但他們沒有公開 "露面"。在新宿 2 丁目，Onee 人很受歡迎。所以

I think gay people in Japan are completely different from gay people in Western countries.

我認為日本的同性戀者與西方國家的同性戀者完全不同。

Shinjuku 2-Chome is a district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, that's famous for being a gay neighborhood

新宿 2 丁目是東京新宿的一個街區，因其是同志聚集區而聞名。

with tons of gay bars and other businesses catering to the gay population. According

這裡有數不清的同志酒吧和其他為同志人群提供服務的企業。根據

to Wikipedia in Shinjuku 2-Chome there are 291 gay bars, and 402 total businesses catering

在維基百科中，新宿 2 丁目有 291 家同志酒吧，共有 402 家餐飲企業。

to gay people, like host clubs, bath houses, massage parlors, video stores, etc.

這些場所都是為同性戀者服務的，如接待俱樂部、洗浴中心、按摩院、音像店等。

Midori Komatsuzaki-san also mentioned it's not common to see lesbians on TV, and from

小松崎綠女士還提到，在電視上看到女同性戀並不常見。

a lot of the comments we got it seems like lesbians are even more uncommon than gay people.

在我們收到的很多評論中，女同性戀似乎比男同性戀更不常見。

But, there were several people who said they have lesbian friends and co-workers who came out

但是，有幾個人說，他們的女同性戀朋友和同事都出櫃了

and were accepted.

並被接受。

I have a female colleague who is a lesbian, and she's just a normal employee. She works

我有一位女同事是女同性戀，她只是一名普通員工。她的工作

fine without any problems. My other colleagues and I planned a wedding ceremony for her.

沒有任何問題。我和其他同事為她籌備了一場婚禮。

In Japan young people don't really have a problem with gay people. Maybe it's thanks

在日本，年輕人對同性戀者並不排斥。也許是由於

to the media? By the way, in Japan we have onsen where you take a bath naked with others.

媒體？順便說一句，在日本，我們有與他人一起裸浴的溫泉。

One of my straight friends has a hard time going to an onsen with my lesbian colleague

我的一位異性戀朋友很難和我的女同事一起去泡溫泉

because she said it's like taking a bath with her male friends and it's embarrassing for her.

因為她說這就像和男性朋友一起洗澡一樣，讓她很尷尬。

One of my friends is a lesbian, and when she told me about it I was really surprised but

我的一個朋友是女同性戀，當她告訴我這件事的時候，我真的很驚訝，但是

I don't mind anymore. Even if someone is lesbian or gay, that doesn't mean they like EVERYONE

我不再介意了。即使有人是女同性戀或男同性戀，也不意味著他們喜歡所有人

of that gender. I came to understand that she's not interested in dating me, and so

的性別。我漸漸明白，她對和我約會不感興趣，所以

I don't mind. They also fall in love with people like us--it's just that they fall in

我不介意。他們也會愛上像我們這樣的人--只是他們愛上的是

love with the same sex. Some people wouldn't understand that, though, and might break off

與同性相愛。但有些人不理解這一點，可能會斷絕關係

a friendship if their friend came out. Especially Christian people. And I think this doesn't

如果他們的朋友出櫃，就會影響友誼。尤其是基督徒。我認為這並不

only happen in Japan.

只發生在日本。

And of course, some people in Japan view homosexuality the same way that some people in America view

當然，日本有些人對同志的看法與美國有些人對同志的看法是一樣的。

it.

它。

In general it seems like outside of TV most LGBT people tend to stay hidden, and because

一般來說，在電視之外，大多數男女同志、雙性戀和變性者都傾向於隱藏起來，這是因為

of that a lot of people said they don't know anyone who's gay.

很多人說他們不認識同性戀者。

I think there are a lot of LGBT in Japan, but in the present condition they don't come

我認為日本有很多男女同志、雙性戀和變性者，但在目前的條件下，他們不會來日本。

out. So like Jun, I don't personally know any gay people. When I studied abroad in America

出來了。所以我和 Jun 一樣，並不認識什麼同性戀者。我在美國留學時

and found out how many sexual minorities there are, after returning to Japan I realized that

回到日本後，我發現

they were certainly there, too, but because of today's state of affairs they hide themselves.

他們當然也在那裡，但由於今天的狀況，他們把自己藏了起來。

I don't know how it is for people from other countries, but I get the feeling that knowledge

我不知道其他國家的人是怎麼想的，但我覺得知識

of things like the differences between gay and transgender people in Japan is shallow.

在日本，同性戀者和變性者之間的區別等問題的認識是膚淺的。

It would be nice if they would teach us that in school...

如果學校能教我們這些就好了

I don't have any gay friends. I don't even have to think about it.

我沒有任何同志朋友我想都不用想。

I just think there are fewer gay people in Japan than there are in America and other

我只是覺得日本的同志人數比美國和其他國家少。

Western countries. I think there are a lot of hidden gay people

西方國家。我認為有很多隱藏的同性戀者

in Japan. But I hear a lot of stories about gay people attacking other people, so I think

在日本。但我聽到過很多關於同志攻擊他人的故事，所以我認為

that's why they're not accepted. There may not be much prejudice about people

這就是他們不被接受的原因。人們可能沒有太多偏見

coming out or appearing as the opposite sex, though, because we're used to seeing them

因為我們習慣於看到他們

on TV. But because we don't see them that often in real life, I think it's difficult

在電視上。但因為我們在現實生活中並不常見到他們，所以我認為這很難

to know how to communicate with them.

知道如何與他們溝通。

Some people felt like coming out was mainly an issue with your workplace.

有些人認為，出櫃主要是工作場所的問題。

I'm a 40 year old straight, married man. I don't have gay friends or acquaintances,

我是一個 40 歲的已婚直男。我沒有同志朋友或熟人、

nor do I know anyone at work who is gay. In my opinion, even if they were gay they wouldn't

我的同事中也沒有人是同志。在我看來，即使他們是同志，他們也不會

tell people because in Japanese work culture it's very important how you're seen. Japanese

因為在日本的工作文化中，如何讓別人看到你是非常重要的。日語

companies don't think it's a good idea to have a gay salesman. They might think it's

公司不認為有一個同志銷售員是個好主意。他們可能認為

a little bad because customers might complain or it could be disadvantageous. Frankly speaking,

這有點不好，因為顧客可能會抱怨，也可能會帶來不利。坦率地說

this is common sense in Japanese companies today. Including me, I don't think individuals

這是當今日本公司的常識。包括我在內，我不認為個人

are prejudiced against gay people, but as a company or community gay people are abnormal

對同性戀者有偏見，但作為一個公司或群體，同性戀者是不正常的

so that's how they're seen. I think this might be unique to Japan.

所以人們就這樣看待他們。我想這可能是日本特有的現象。

It's very normal to have foreign people around us in Japan now, but I think it'll still take

現在在日本，有外國人在我們身邊已經很正常了，但我認為還需要

a little while to accept gay people the same way we accept foreigners.

要像接受外國人一樣接受同志，還需要一點時間。

But I think there were just as many people who said they knew someone at their work who

但我認為，同樣有很多人說，他們認識的同事中有人

came out and didn't have problems. There was one comment I found really interesting, that

出來，並沒有出現問題。有一個評論我覺得非常有趣，那就是

suggested a lot of gay men in Japan just end up ignoring their sexuality and living a typical

建議日本的許多男同性戀者最終無視自己的性取向，過著典型的

heterosexual life.

異性戀生活。

I don't have any gay acquaintances, so I'm just guessing... Compared to America, knowledge

我沒有任何同志熟人，所以我只是猜測......與美國相比，知識

about the LGBT category isn't very widespread. So because of that, I think there are some

關於女同性戀、男同性戀、雙性戀和變性者的資訊並不廣泛。是以，我認為有一些

Japanese people who are actually gay but don't realize it and feel a little odd about being

日本人實際上是同性戀者，但沒有意識到這一點，並對自己的身份感到有些奇怪

straight, but end up getting married to the opposite sex. And so, I heard that once Japanese

直，但最後卻與異性結婚。是以，我聽說有一次日本人

people get married and have kids, there are a lot of people who stop being a man and woman,

人們結婚生子後，很多人就不再是男人和女人了、

or lovers anymore, and then become housemates or best friends, and then become sexless.

或戀人，然後成為舍友或最好的朋友，然後變得沒有性生活。

There is statistical data that says Japanese people tend to be less interested in sex than

有統計數據表明，日本人對性的興趣往往低於其他國家。

people in other countries. So in marriage, if you just want to be with a housemate or

其他國家的人。是以，在婚姻中，如果你只想和房客或

a best friend, then it doesn't matter what sex they are. So I think people who are actually

最好的朋友，那麼他們的性別就不重要了。是以，我認為那些真正

gay don't really feel uncomfortable getting married to someone who's the opposite sex.

同性戀者和異性結婚並不會感到不自在。

And as a result I think that makes gay Japanese people less noticeable. I don't think there's

是以，我認為這使得日本同性戀者不那麼引人注目。我不認為

discrimination against gay people in Japan.

日本對同性戀者的歧視。

And a number of people made points that in Japan it's not really common to loudly assert

一些人指出，在日本，大聲斷言並不常見。

yourself and demand equality:

自己，要求平等：

I've had gay and lesbian friends, but I didn't think anything special about them, and my

我有過男同性戀和女同性戀朋友，但我並不覺得他們有什麼特別之處，我的

other coworkers and friends didn't dislike them. But in Japan people who are overly self-assertive

其他同事和朋友並不討厭他們。但在日本，過於自我的人

are somewhat kept at a distance from normal people, so I think you should avoid saying

與正常人保持一定距離，所以我認為你應該避免說

things loudly like, "I'm gay! I'm the same as everyone else!"

"我是同志，我和其他人一樣！我和其他人一樣！"

Japanese culture puts a lot of pressure on assimilating, so I imagine that even if you're

日本文化對同化施加了很大的壓力，所以我想即使你

a little bit different it's difficult. As for foreigners, most people view them as completely

有點不同就很難。至於外國人，大多數人認為他們完全是

differently from Japanese people so I don't think people care if they're gay. Japan isn't

是以，我認為人們並不在乎他們是否是同志。日本不是

a country where you assert your rights. We're a society where without saying anything people

在這個國家裡，你可以維護自己的權利。在我們這個社會里，人們什麼都不用說

can guess your thoughts, or you can indirectly show your feelings through your expressions,

你可以猜測自己的想法，也可以通過表情間接表達自己的感受、

so if you demand rights then people consider you a nuisance. So if you say things like,

所以，如果你要求權利，人們就會認為你是個討厭鬼。所以，如果你說：

"I'm gay! I have the same rights as everyone else!" people might end up putting you at

"我是同志！我和其他人有同樣的權利！"人們最終可能會把你置於

a distance.

距離。

Fortunately there were a lot of people who felt like coming out isn't a huge deal among

幸運的是，有很多人覺得出櫃並不是什麼大不了的事。

young people anymore, and that the typical reaction is either being temporarily surprised,

年輕人的典型反應是暫時感到驚訝、

or just saying, "Oh, really?

或者只是說："哦，真的嗎？

I don't think there are many young people who would view gay people negatively.

我認為沒有多少年輕人會對同志持負面看法。

Twice before I've heard rumors about people around me being gay, but almost no one was

我曾兩次聽到關於周圍人是同志的傳言，但幾乎沒有人是

shocked or spoke badly about them. It must be very difficult and take courage to come

震驚或說他們的壞話。這一定是非常困難的，需要勇氣。

out for gay people, so I think a lot of people would respect that and welcome them warmly.

所以我想很多人都會尊重並熱烈歡迎他們。

These days you see yaoi and yuri in manga all over the place so I think the younger

如今，在漫畫中到處都能看到 "蘿莉 "和 "百合"，所以我認為年輕一代更喜歡 "蘿莉 "和 "百合"。

generation doesn't really mind.

一代人並不介意。

When I hear that someone I don't know is gay I don't care--I would be like, "Oh, really?

當我聽說我不認識的人是同志時，我並不在意--我會說："哦，真的嗎？

Hmmm..." So in my opinion most Japanese people wouldn't mind, they would be like, "Just go

嗯......"所以在我看來，大多數日本人都不會介意，他們會說："去吧

ahead, as long as you guys don't trouble anyone it will be fine." But if they do lovey-dovey

"前面，只要你們不給別人添麻煩就沒事"。但如果他們做了愛

things right in front of you then I think it would bother people. It's the same as a

那麼我認為這會讓人們感到困擾。這和

normal couple doing lovey-dovey things. There are gay people in Japan but I don't

正常的情侶做著恩愛的事情。日本也有同志，但我不知道

think many of them are open about it. So for how gay people are viewed--basically Japanese

我認為他們中的很多人都對此持開放態度。那麼，日本人是如何看待同志的？

people are not interested in anyone but themselves and religion isn't widespread, so I don't

人們只對自己感興趣，宗教信仰並不普遍，所以我不

think there's much prejudice against gay people. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they

認為人們對同性戀者有很多偏見。然而，這並不一定意味著他們

understand gay people. So people's reactions would be something like, "Oh, you're gay?

理解同性戀者。所以人們的反應會是 "哦，你是同志？

Huh." I think there are some people who don't accept gay people, but most Japanese people

哼！"我認為有些人不接受同志，但大多數日本人

don't mind and will welcome you without changing their attitude.

他們不會介意，而且會歡迎你，不會改變他們的態度。

And many people seemed to think that LGBT foreigners shouldn't need to worry at all,

而許多人似乎認為，外國男女同志、雙性戀和變性者根本不需要擔心、

since they get grouped into a category of outsiders, just like with entertainers on

因為他們會被歸類為局外人，就像娛樂界的藝人一樣

TV.

電視

Frankly speaking, I think most Japanese people would warmly welcome foreign gay couples who

坦率地說，我認為大多數日本人都會熱烈歡迎外國的同志伴侶，他們會

are visiting Japan. I think Japanese people are lenient, so as

訪問日本。我覺得日本人很寬容，所以

long you don't completely ignore Japanese customs and do what you want then I think