President: Gon Matsunaka(Good Aging Yells)

Secretariat：Good Aging Yells (Approved Specified Nonprofit Corporation)

Contact：tokyo@pridehouse.jp

Operating out of “community center akta” in Shinjuku 2-chome—said to be home to the largest conglomeration of gay bars and gay commercial establishments in Asia—akta offers support and services for the gay community, provided from within the gay community. Working from the perspective that we’re already living side-by-side with HIV, akta’s activities, conducted with the cooperation of people living with and affected by HIV, are based on the dual importance of preventative measures and support, and are geared towards both individuals who are at risk of contracting HIV and those who are HIV-positive.

A specified Nonprofit Organization, began in 1993 as a nationwide network organization of student entrepreneurs. It has the aim of investing in the growth of entrepreneur-minded leaders who lobby for social change and create value with their actions. Its activities have since spread across Japan. Using the networks and knowledge it has cultivated through its work, it is working to promote human resources training that encourages the development of personnel interested in creating social value, as well as to promote open innovation. Since 2016, it has also handled management of “Social Impact for 2020 and Beyond”, a platform for registering and promoting future-oriented activities and movements.

Taking up the mantle of “Let’s Hold a Rainbow Parade in Fukuoka!”, a movement started by a Fukuoka University student volunteer in 2014, the Kyushu Rainbow Pride was launched in 2015, and has since grown into an event which has seen its number of attendees exceed 7000. It bases its activities around three projects such as “MarriageRings4LGBT¬¬––Weddings for Everyone Project”, which supports weddings as the embodiment of a joyful step forward in one’s life, and “Living LGBT––Housing Project”.

Founded in 2010. Focusing on upholding the concept of “together with LGBT people and diversity” through the creation of more inclusive spaces, it has been involved in a variety of projects, such as: “Colorful Café”, a collaboration with a beach house; “work with Pride”, a workplace conference; the production of an index rating efforts towards LGBT inclusivity, a first for Japan; “Colorful House”, a sharehouse; and the “Out in Japan” project, which aims to assemble portrait photographs of 10,000 LGBT individuals by 2020. It is also responsible for the supervision of LGBT study groups and the creation of leaflets promoting diversity within the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee.

A project born from the concept of “a clean town also makes people’s hearts and minds clean”, its primary activities involve cleaning up around town. Having originally begun in the Harajuku/Omotesando area, its promotional efforts have expanded outside its place of origin to encompass the whole country, and have even spread overseas. Participants can range from individuals to shop staff, companies, and organizations. As of September 2018, it has 73 domestic teams and 13 overseas teams spread out across 11 countries, and continues to focus on spreading its message of garbage cleanup to the rest of the world by using the momentum offered by sporting events and activities related to SDGs. Aside from garbage cleanup, its activities also play a role in creating a sense of belonging for people, invigorating shopping districts, and restoring abandoned fields and rice paddies.

Founded in 2002. Manages “SHIP Rainbow Cabin”, a community space open for four days a week where gender and sexual minorities can freely meet, talk to others like them, and read books. It offers social gatherings geared towards families and people of different sexualities and ages, as well as offering both phone and in-person counselling, HIV and STD checkups, and lectures aimed at schools and government bodies. It also holds social gatherings for gender and sexual minorities and offers consultations on an individual basis in cooperation with the local city authorities.

Founded in 2003, it works to uphold the vision of working towards a society in which diversity is encouraged and everyone is able to be themselves, and where people can grow together whilst making the most of their differences. Its organization mission likewise consists of spreading a message of diversity and inclusion (D&I), creating spaces to deepen understanding, and contributing to social initiatives which everyone can take part in. Viewing “public awareness”, “investigative research”, and “sharing one’s experiences” as the pillars of its operations, it aims to create opportunities that encourage people to think of “diversity and inclusion” as something that applies to everyone. Since 2015, it has also been putting effort into its “sports x D&I” initiative.

Founded with the goal of contributing to people’s physical and mental health worldwide through sports and health-related enterprises in May, 2012. Its current representative director is Toshiya Takeda. Its activities include planning and managing events that are geared towards promoting good health and nurturing the mind through sports, such as citizen participatory basketball tournaments held in publicly-managed sports halls around the Tokyo metropolitan area, and Christmas Charity Run, a running event that brings together citizen runners and children from disaster areas. It also conducts various surveys in the sports/healthcare fields, and publishes the results.

With the motto “Have fun, be proud, be yourself” in mind, it hopes to help create a society where everyone, including LGBT individuals, can live safely, and work to provide a variety of activities to promote this. Its primary activities consist of holding a pride parade, festival, and walk campaign every year. “PRIDE”, as the name suggests, is a movement centered around the idea of living with pride and without feeling ashamed of one’s sexuality. Having begun in America in 1970, it has since spread throughout the world, with the first pride parade being held in Japan in 1994. Tokyo Rainbow Pride began operations in 2012, and in 2018 succeeded in rallying a total of 150,000 people in the course of its activities.

Started operations in 2010. Based on the concept of “gradually connecting LGBT individuals involved in raising children with those around them”, it continues to help bring together both LGBT families raising children and those dwelling on family-related topics, along with working to spread information on LGBT families. It manages the “Parent and Child Rest Area” every year at Tokyo Rainbow Pride, and also arranges social gatherings such as LGBT family picnics and study meetings for LGBT families on the topic of engagement with schools.

Founded in 2013, it works to create workplaces where LGBT individuals can feel at ease whilst working, as well as a society where they can live without concern. It gathers data with important bearing on societal topics in collaboration with academic institutions, and then uses that data to hold lectures and educational training for organizations such as large-scale corporations, government bodies, and universities. Surveys it has conducted include: “Survey of LGBT Issues in the Workplace Environment (in collaboration with the Center for Gender Studies (CGS) at the International Christian University)”, “Attitude Survey on Use of Public Toilets Among Sexual Minorities (LIXIL)”, “Survey Tracking Individuals Who Use the Partnership System in Shibuya (Shibuya City, etc.)”, “Survey Concerning Efforts to Increase Allies (JT)”. Other publications include the “LGBT Workplace Handbook” and the “Handbook for Transgender Individuals in the Workplace Environment”.

JaNP+ is an organization working towards a society where HIV-positive individuals (individuals who are aware that they have contracted HIV) are able to live without any social disadvantages, including not having to hide their diagnosis and being able to live a self-sufficient life. Through events such as social gatherings, it works to create a network between affected individuals, along with distributing information written from their points of view, such as research, information magazines, and internet-based information. It also holds lectures and participates in government planning as part of its advocacy activities, which are grounded in the experiences of HIV-positive people. Founded in 2002, it continues to be an organization that is both focused on HIV-positive people and is also made up of individuals affected by HIV.

An NPO that works to create an environment where people with HIV/AIDs are able to live as themselves. It offers both phone and in-person consultation for HIV-positive individuals and those around them, phone consultations for those worried they might have contracted HIV, and group events and meetings geared towards HIV positive individuals, as well as providing online information on preventative measures and HIV testing. It also runs the “Living Together (we already live side-by-side with you)” campaign, in which those affected by HIV can actively participate. Since last year, it has also participated in the “U=U (Undetectable = Untransmissible)” global campaign.

Broken Rainbow Japan is an organization specializing in helping LGBTIQ victims of sexual violence and, while we continue to operate as a rape crisis network, we have officially just launched our organization activities this year. Our activities, which center around working with LGBTIQ rape survivors their message, include victim support, information dissemination, surveys, research, collaboration with other groups including international institutions, creation of educational material, and government lobbying.

Inaugurated in 2009. Having begun as a study group for junior professors, it was relaunched in 2016 as “Mushimegane no Kai”, an association for considering the intersection of LGBT topics and education. Based on the concept of “Taking a look at children’s hearts; taking a look at education”, it offers education about gender diversity, and works together with participants to deepen their understanding of LGBT topics. Recently, it has opened its doors to people not involved in education, welcoming individuals with diverse life stories into its ranks with the aim of becoming a place based on the concept of “Gather, Learn, Make Connections”. The president, Shigeyoshi Suzuki, is an openly gay and is an elementary school teacher.

With the aim of creating a society where all children, including LGBT children, are able to grow up as themselves, its activities are focused on university students and people in their twenties. It conducts research into LGBT topics and produces material geared towards students and educators, and encourages the spread of understanding in places of education. It also offers support for job hunters and training for companies on LGBT topics as part of its activities focusing on job-hunting for LGBT individuals, and “Rainbow Crossing Tokyo”, a conference on the topic of how LGBT individuals might be allowed to work as themselves, has been attended by a total of 1300 people over the course of two years. With the fostering of young leaders in mind, its activities also include management of events such as “LGBT coming of age ceremonies” in 16 areas across Japan, and the development of an LGBT leader program.

Rainbow Reel Tokyo is a film festival focused on the screening of films that deal with the topic of sexual minorities. Having begun in 1992 as the Tokyo International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, it hopes to create a more diverse and open society through screening both films that deal with gay and lesbian themes and films that feature various sexual minorities. It also aims to contribute to the creation of a film culture by showcasing both domestic and international works dealing with themes of sexual minorities, due to works with those themes having little opportunity to be screened theatrically.

University Diversity Alliance is a network project whose aims are that by helping LGBT and other sexual minorities students every university becomes a place where all students and teachers can reach their full potential. It is also a volunteer network that began in 2018 between universities, starting with Tsukuba University, in order to coordinate support for LGBT/SOGI matters. We aim to officially launch our organization properly in 2019 and expand and consolidate our network as we build up and communicate with more universities, companies, organizations, and individuals.

Born in Saitama prefecture in 1987. Spurred by his own experiences as a transgender individual, he began to involve himself in efforts to support LGBT (gender and sexual minority) children and youth in his late teens, and has since released books such as “An LGBT Guidebook for Teachers and Parents––what to do if a child comes out to you (Godo Shuppan)”. He also works as a representative for 24zzz (nijies), a safe space for LGBT (and questioning) youth ranging in age from their teens to age 23.

Having studied architecture from a young age, he subsequently went on to study under Shin Egashira. He began to theme his work around the concept of “bringing people together” in September 11st, 2001, and continues to work in the interdisciplinary fields of art, architecture, design.
He creates patterns based on simple geometric principles, with designs that are easy to replicate with a compass or ruler, and then goes on to apply the same geometrical principles to the design and production of three-dimensional objects.
Notable works include: the facade glass pattern on the lower story of the Dai Nagoya Building, the emblem for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, and an open-air sculpture for the Otemachi Park Building.

After graduating university, he worked at an advertising agency and a publishing company, before becoming a freelance magazine editor and planner. In 1992, he learned that he had contracted HIV, and in 1993 he began working at a patient’s association and giving lectures. Notable work includes: overseeing publication plans for the gay magazine “Badi”, founding and working as chief editor for the gay magazine “G-men” (until 2002). In 2002, he established the Japanese Network of People Living with HIV/Aids (JaNP+), and is currently working as its director. He is also the author of the book “Kuma Fujin no Kokuhaku” (Potto Shuppan, 2005), and has worked as director on “Watashi wa Watashi––over the rainbow” (Get in touch, 2017).

Born in 1955. In 2000, she became the first transgender university professor in Japan, and continues to work as a part-time lecturer today. Her research focuses on topics related to society and cultural history, such as transgender-related topics, prostitution (particularly red-light districts), and kimono (meisen silk). Published books include: “Joso to Nihonjin” (Kodansha’s new library of knowledge, 2008), “Shinjuku ‘Sei naru machi’ no Rekishi Chiri” (Asahi sensho, planned for release in October 2018), and collaborative works include “Seiyoku no Kenkyu, Tokyo no Ero Chirihen” (Heibonsha, 2015).