【11th Round】We Ask A Monk in High Heels, Kodo Nishimura, What Travel Will Look Like in 5 Years

The New Buds of Tourism, Exploring the Shape and Future of Tourism Five Years Ahead

Mr. Nishimura is a monk, makeup artist and a LGBTQ activist. What sense of oneself has he found by connecting with the world?

Today’s column focuses on knowing and pinpointing changes in future tourism and travel trends and brings an expertise from specialist outside of the travel industry to share their thoughts. We’re joined by Mr. Kodo Nishimura, a Buddhist monk, makeup artist, and an LGBTQ activist who has a plenty of experiences in a variety of fields.

Mr. Kodo Nishimura

　
Mr. Kodo Nishimura was born in Tokyo in 1989 and graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York. After graduation, he gained some experience as a makeup artist assistant and then went independent. He’s worked at Miss Universe pageants, New York Fashion Week, and famous Hollywood celebrities, garnering international praise for his skills. In 2015, he became a Pure Land (sect of Buddhism) monk.
　
He’s a makeup artist, Buddhist monk, and a member of LGBTQ community. He advocates using his unique perspective for fair treatment of everyone, regardless of their race and gender. He’s spoken at the United Nations Population Fund, Yale University, Stanford University, and Zojo-ji Temple. Audiences may have seen him on domestic and international media such as NHK, CNN, BBC as well as Netflix’s Queer Eye series. In 2020, he released a book titled, Seisei Dodo Watashi Ga Sukina Watashi De Ikiteiinda and featured in TIME magazine in 2021 as a next generation leader.
　

The Path To Expressing My True Self

　
Explorer: Mr. Nishimura, were you aiming to become a makeup artist originally?
　
Mr. Nishimura: I was born in a temple, but I loved playing princess. I didn’t want to ever become a monk. There was a certain pressure I felt seeing the monks and their way of life around me. I knew I was gay when I was in kindergarten; I loved wearing my mother’s accessories and skirts. When I entered elementary school, people stopped adding “-chan” to my name and changed it to “-kun.” I didn’t feel like myself.
　
My high school life was the hardest period in my life; I had no friends. I enjoyed American movies at that time and was greatly influenced by The Princess Diaries (2001), a story about a girl with no confidence who transforms herself, grows and expresses her true feelings. I listened to Michael Jackson’s song about racial discrimination and Mariah Carey’s difficulties. There are places where people are voicing the real problems of the time. I was 18 when I went to study in the US. That was when I made my first gay friend.
　
I was in Boston for two years, New York for eight, and Los Angeles for one and a half years. I started out in Boston those for two years for general education. It was difficult at that time to come out to the people around me, but I met people who lived their true selves at the art university in New York. That’s when I thought I don’t have to hide anymore. There was an opportunity for an internship at my university so I became a makeup artist assistant. When I was in Japan, sales people would often ask if the items I was buying was for my mother or my girlfriend, but in the US there were salesmen who wore shiny makeup selling the products. I thought to myself that I could buy the things I liked here.
　
All the events I dreamt about such as the Miss Universe Pageant and New York Fashion Week – I was able to be involved in the makeup part for them. This is the start of my time as a makeup artist.

　

　

Becoming a Monk to Ascertain Whether or Not I Would Like It, An Important Way to Exist Now

　
Explorer: Did you feel anxious coming back to Japan from the US?
　
Mr. Nishimura: Yes. I still didn’t come out to my parents then. They didn’t tell me to take over the temple, but they did say it would be hard for me to do so without a wife. A long time ago, I was applying nail polish a cousin gave me when my mother said, “Kodo, I don’t want you to grow up doing those kinds of things.” That made me worried the most. I used makeup on my friends and had a boyfriend in the US. I wanted to feel like myself in Japan, so I made the decision to come out to my parents. My father knew since I was in high school and told me, “It’s your life, live it the way you see fit.” My mother had some suspicions when she was raising me, but with them cleared now she said she now understands me. Regarding the nail polish, my mother said, “I got my nails done for my wedding but thought they wouldn’t be able to breathe. I thought it wouldn’t be good for my children and that’s why I said that. I lent you my accessories and skirts, didn’t I?” I assumed that my parents wouldn’t be able to accept me and would hate me but it was only my preconceived notions.
　
Explorer: Why did you pursue the path of the monk after asserting you would never want to become one when you were a child?
　
Mr. Nishimura: After I graduated university, I was lost as to what to do with my future. I remember my mother, a pianist, telling me, “If you don’t like Mozart’s music, then study Mozart’s music carefully. You have to compare him with other composers. Likewise, it’s meaningless criticism if you can’t why you don’t like it here.” I decided to find the reason why I didn’t like Buddhism. In addition, I wanted to know more about the teachings and the roles involved. Why do they chant and why do people come to the temple? These are things I wanted to know.
　
Explorer: We’re sure training to become a monk was difficult, but it seems like you found hope in that.
　
Mr. Nishimura: It was very difficult for me when I was for training. I learned that the moonlight will shine upon all the people in the town and that Buddhist teachings will reach and save everyone, whether that person was a prostitute, criminal or the disabled. I was worried because I’m gay, but I felt like Buddhism supports people to be themselves. When I was abroad, I had friends that couldn’t accept homosexuality as it opposed their religious beliefs. I want to tell people that Buddhism doesn’t have a problem with homosexuality. As a thank you for giving me the confidence to be my gay self, I want to teach them the knowledge that I’ve learned too.
　
Explorer: Old-fashioned values don’t seem to change in Japan, there must be people who feel like they can’t live like themselves.
　
Mr. Nishimura: When I entered the baths during my training, another trainee told me he thought I was gay. I used to pretend I didn’t hear them in high school, but I wasn’t going to let that go and be quiet. If I did, Japan would never change. I thought of my friends who were proudly out living in Spain and the US and told him, “Yeah, you’re right.” He was surprised. My friend added, “Did you know? Nishimura worked in makeup at the Miss Universe Pageant in New York,” further shocking him even more. In the end he told me to give it my all in New York. That was a powerful moment for me. If I am confident and ask, “So what?” without any doubts to when people tease or make fun of me, they might change their opinions. If I hide my sexuality and think I’m inferior in a way, people might want to stick their nose into my business. It’s important to learn what makes you who you are and to be proud of it.

　

The Earth is My Home, If You Leave Japan, You’ll Encounter a New World and a New You

　
Explorer: As a monk and a makeup artist, you have many opportunities to go abroad for work. Do you leisure travel as well?
　
Mr. Nishimura: I love travel. I’m most excited by the anticipation of different sceneries and places I never could have imagined. Colombia is one example. When I was studying in Boston around 2008, I had a classmate from Colombia. She said that her country wasn’t safe, but I wanted to go to South America. I wonder when that would happen. However, I had a Colombian boyfriend and the country became safer. So, I went and visited even though I was worried for my safety at the time. Although I was anxious about it, I wanted to know what the air smelled like there, what values do the people living there hold. There are things we can’t know from just pictures and video so actually going and experience for myself was fun.
　
I visited the capital, Bogota, and tried all these tropical fruit juices I’ve never heard of before such as naranjilla, soursop, and maracuya. The textures were creamy and the flavors sour, but it was addictive and had wonderful scents to them. Colombia possesses an island called San Andres, which is said to have seven shades of blue in the Caribbean Sea. I counted them and there are actually seven shades. Light blue, aqua, blue, turquoise, emerald green, green, dark green, etc. I was in awe as I was counting them.
　
When I was traveling there, I was a little nervous to visit an area called Comuna. The area wasn’t known for its safety, and it had gun violence as well. I heard the walls had bullet marks. However, the town has been redeveloped, and the walls are now painted with graffiti art. Just like Harajuku’s Takeshita Dori, there are shops selling cute beads, accessories, dessert shops with lots of toppings lining up the street. It was bustling with tourists. I felt like Colombia was changing.
　
The thing that made me the happiest was that I got along with my partner’s parents. They warmly without saying a word – this transcended international borders. We got married in Colombia. When we got married, the city hall said, “In Colombia, it doesn’t matter if the spouse is of the opposite or same sex, they are all given the same rights.” That moved me. I was brave and traveled there. I treasure the connections I made with the people I met. This made me want to travel even more.
　
Explorer: You gain a new sense of value every time you travel. Do you think these kinds of trips won’t change five years from now?
　
Mr. Nishimura: I think there are things that will and won’t change. When I talk to my friends from abroad, the one type of travel I thought was new was going somewhere to find a place you would like to live. I have a Russian friend who’s a digital nomad and works remotely. They don’t go back to Russia and are always going around to different countries. I have friends who go around living in places for long periods of time to see if they’re easy for gay people to live in. I have friends who look for work in places after figuring out where’s a comfortable place to live. These people make the world their home and transcend international boundaries. I believe more and more people will live their lives freely like this as time goes on.
　
Explorer: “The world is our home.” That thought process relates to the idea that we’re human, it doesn’t matter what our nationality or sex is. We were only born as a man or woman in Japan. We’d like to conclude with the question, “what is travel to you, Mr. Nishimura?”
　
Mr. Nishimura: Travel expands our world.
　
When I was young, Tokyo, where I was born and raised, was the universe I lived in. I had doubts about the values only found there and felt suffocated by it all. By going to unknown countries or towns, I’m able to experience different ideas and meet people I’ve never imagined before. This expands my universe. I go to places where homosexual people are celebrated and that gives me confidence in my own existence, which gives me the power to love myself. I can find parts of myself I didn’t know about when I compare myself with different people. In that way, travel is important to me.
　
I was young and stayed in Japan, but now I feel like I walk all over the world.

The “Bud” We Found in this Exploration

We found a lot in this exploration: Mr. Nishimura’s unwavering attitude to all the things that come to him in life. He learned how to say why he doesn’t like something from his mother, he learned how to deal with insensitive remarks, and learned to find hidden scenes during his travels. Mr. Nishimura learned to face everything in a conscientious manner. He found himself and used his experiences to move other people’s hearts. During the interview, he changed his clothing from a t-shirt to a vestment for the column’s screenshot. We have also been moved by his friendly and gentle personality.