Saito, M: Silencing Identity through Communication

This book explores the ways in which "ordinary" heterosexual people habitually (and without malice) make homosexual people invisible in ordinary communication processes in Japanese communities in Japan and the U.S. I raise the question: What are the scenes and communication practices in and through which homosexuality becomes invisible or irrelevant to identification of the self? First, I explore the communicative style of being ordinary, in and through which heterosexuals habitually enact a complete lack of awareness of homosexuals. Second, while addressing Japanese silence and indirect and ambiguous communication practices, I examine a direct mode of Japanese communication called speaking straightforwardly. Third, I analyze cultural premises regarding social and emotional selves associated with being ordinary and speaking straightforwardly. Fourth, I describe a silencing form of communication which cultivates gut-level discomfort and fear of homosexuals. Fifth, I analyze Japanese heterosexual male- centered lovemaking scenes in ero-manga which provide possible sources of misunderstanding between males, females, and male homosexuals.