Vivienne Sato: 6 Diary Entries From a Japanese Drag Queen

The Diary of Vivienne Sato

Artist, film critic, and drag queen Vivienne Sato eschews identity labels and lives her life in bold blue lipstick and towering wigs. "I suppose I want it a little -- for people to complain, to say something. I want to be the noise, you know?" the Tokyo personality said. Sato's incredible story is depicted in a new documentary, Queer Japan, directed by Graham Kolbeins, which is now available on Blu-ray.

Learn more about Queer Japan from The Advocate's interview with Kolbeins. And see below for a week of diary entries from Sato, paired with photography from the film's production. "I'm very busy running around every day," Sato attested. "Let me introduce one week in the life of Vivienne Sato."

Photographs courtesy of Queer Japan and Graham Kolbeins. The diary entries have been edited and condensed.

Monday

I had organized the "Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station tour with Vivienne" over the weekend. And I came back from Fukushima today. About 10 years ago, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, causing a tsunami and nuclear accident. My hometown Sendai city, Miyagi, is located in the north of Fukushima. The area was severely damaged by the earthquake. But a serious nuclear accident had occurred in Fukushima, and it's convergence is still unclear.

I was supposed to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Nippon Festival, the official cultural program of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. However, I was against the Olympics because I felt there were more things we should prioritize. I thought and thought. As a result of my thoughts, I came to this conclusion: that it's not necessary to fully decide for or against. There could be a position of opposition in favor or approval in opposition.

So I thought about the way to raise an issue while I participate in this program. Although the Tokyo Olympics are labeled as the Recovery Olympics, people don't care about Fukushima anymore. That cultural program will take place in Shibuya where rapid urban development has progressed. So many homeless people were kicked out of Miyashita Park there.

Subcontractor workers working at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, people displaced from their hometown, people kicked out of Shibuya... nameless people who are considered non-existent in the shadow of the Olympics. I felt the strong need to hold an official event including them. This is the reason I organized the Fukushima tour.

Tuesday

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world. Shinjuku, where I live, is said to have the largest number of coronavirus patients in Japan. I'm suspicious about this statistic though. Due to the pandemic, old shops are closing more and more this year. There are only foreign coffee chains, hamburger shops, and fast fashion stores in front of Shinjuku station. This is not limited to Shinjuku, but it's the same at any station. The city is losing "unnamable," "uncategorizable," and "undefined" stores. This is also the same for us humans. We should be "unnamable," "uncategorizable," and "undefined" race.

Recently, I began to introduce one-and-only unique stores in Shinjuku on YouTube. It's called "Shinjuku Dokodemo Museum (SDM)." I think Shinjuku is like a big museum without ceilings and the city holds its original history and stories. I'm an interviewer in this program. The name SDM is reminiscent of Sodom. Not sophisticated like Shibuya, Shinjuku is double-faced, complicated and tough.

Wednesday

I was invited to a talk show in a movie theater in Shinjuku. I'm doing a lot of things, one of which is being a movie critic. It has to be unique because I'm the one to criticize the film. I talk about the film with the context no one could ever think of. My insight would surprise the directors and producers, going, "Wait, is this how you describe our film?!" This is what we call "misreading" and thus one of my nicknames is "Miss Read."

Thursday

I'm teaching as a guest professor in the department of Urban Engineering at the university. All my lectures are done by Zoom due to COVID-19 but I always put my makeup and headdress on when I teach. Although it is for Urban Engineering, my themes vary from makeup, drag, camp, art, film, architecture, community building, etc. Because everything is linked. People, city, events, crimes -- I think each one is distorted polyhedron. Wide face, narrow face, flashing face, faces we don't even notice ... everything gathers to form an image of things.

For example, is the movie really fiction? For the actors acting in the film, it is undeniably a fiction. But for the audience, it is certainly a reality of hurting your butt from sitting and watching for two hours! This is a training to adapt the method to the real world, how to make real-life experiences correspond to your past life experiences and speak in your own words.

Friday

The Sanchome Terrace, a new sidewalk cafe, has opened in a back ally of the Isetan department store in Shinjuku. I organize events on Friday nights. Along with the theme "Shinjuku," I'm developing its diversity and the peculiarities that never mix. Drag parties in the Ni-Chome gayborhood, guys from the male host bars in Kabukicho, cheerleaders supporting commuting office workers, accordion players wearing my headdress on a stage, Utagoe coffeehouse (coffee shop where customers can join in singing songs together) from the 1960s ... Shinjuku is definitely a treasury of contents!

Saturday

I've been holding headdress workshops for a few years. It is for everyone, from elementary school kids to adults. This week, I had a class for adult ladies. Putting makeup on or dressing up does not mean to transform into someone, it is actually stripping down and become yourself. It is a workshop to find your true self, which is hidden in the everyday life.

The history of the headdress is varied from all ages and countries; Marie Antoinette, court nobles, Oiran (courtesans), helmets of warlords, ethnic costumes... I think all played the same role as an antenna or a net, which catches unseen or unknown energies. Long before the words fashion and art were born, they had a purpose and a function. I think we can gently feel the experience of people who lived in the time when magical things were alive...

Fin