Full Description
Queer Migration and Drag in Japan: Queering Identity, Participation and Belonging explores how queer migration intersects with drag performance in Japan, illuminating the intricate interplay between gender, embodiment, and identity.
The book follows migrant drag artists as they build lives and stages in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Drawing on interviews, ethnography, and collaborative tojisha research, the book explores questions of identity and belonging, and traces how performers - by shifting between insider and outsider positions - reclaim the "gaijin" (foreigner) label, navigate rigid work-family structures, and build coalitions linking Japan's bars to a booming global drag economy. It offers a fresh, accessible entry point into urgent debates about identity, belonging, and demographic change in contemporary Japan.
Queer Migration and Drag in Japan: Queering Identity, Participation and Belonging is ideal for both students and researchers in gender studies, migration, Japanese studies, and performance studies.
Contents
Introduction: Navigating Queer Migration Research in Japan 1. Threads of Transformation: Gender-Crossing in Japanese History 2. Dragging Foreignness: Strategic Identification in Everyday Disorientation 3. Proximate Assimilation: Edging Participation and Lip-Synching Productivity 4. Contouring Queer Culture: Politics of Belonging within Transnational Queer Communities Conclusion: Dragging queer politics
