LGBTQ: Biankon~Watashi ga Josei to, Kekkonshiki wo Agerumade~ (ビアン婚。 ~私が女性と、結婚式を挙げるまで~)

January 9th, 2017

In 2009, gravure model, TV talent and entertainer Ichinose Ayaka came out as a lesbian in an interview in FLASH magazine. In Biankon ~Watashi ga Josei to, Kekkonshiki wo Agerumade~ (ビアン婚 ~私が女性と、結婚式を挙げるまで~)  Ichinose tells us about her life and how she got to a place where she, a reasonably well-known entertainer, was holding a wedding ceremony with her girlfriend, professional dancer Sugimori Akane.

Ichinose-san did not have an easy life. Suffering from undiagnosed ADHD, her school life was stressful and her mother was a shut-in with some other issues. That she has become as successful as she has is due, in large part,  to her own will and drive to make her career happen. 

This autobiography is bluntly told, without linguistic flourish, much as it might be if you were sitting with Ichinose-san over a drink. The book takes us from her first love through subsequent relationships, to meeting Akane and deciding that they would have a marriage ceremony in public in Japan, where such things are still not legal.

There’s no particular skill in writing, or storytelling on display, this book feel more like Ichinose-san is compelled to get her story out there in print, so no one can deny it of her…much the same way she created her own career.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

I was especially interested to note that the publisher of this book is Futabasha.  They are also the publisher of Morinaga Milk’s work and Tagame Gengoroh’s Otouto no Otto. I’m convinced that there is a LGBTQ ally, or family, at high levels there. ^_^

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