NEW5/9 Event: Towards a Sociology of Nonbinary

[Date & Time]
Saturday, May 9, 2026, 13:00–17:00

[Language]
Japanese (no translation)

[Venue]
International Conference Room, 2nd Floor, Dialogue House
International Christian University (Building No. 18 on the campus map)

[Registration Form]
https://forms.gle/GFufESYWUq2iNR639

Capacity: 100 participants (Registration will close once full)

• This is a face-to-face event (no online streaming).
• Japanese captioning will be provided using UD Talk.
• The venue is accessible by elevator.
• This event has established ground rules. All participants are asked to adhere to them.
• Unauthorized photography or audio recording at the venue is strictly prohibited.

[Event Description]

This event aims to examine how sociology can respond to non-binary experiences, which have become increasingly visible in recent years but remain insufficiently researched. While non-binary experiences have certainly existed within sexual minority communities, they have often been historically rendered invisible. In recent years, moreover, alongside trans people, they have also been exposed to various exclusionary discourses. Starting from these concerns, this event explores the possibilities of a perspective that might be called a “sociology of nonbinary.”

Following a presentation by Kyoko Takeuchi, author of Living Non-Binary Genders: A History of the Use of Gender/Sexual Minority Categories in Japan (Akashi Shoten, 2025), responses from adjacent fields will be brought into dialogue, such as Yuumi Konishi, who specializes in trans healthcare, and Lily Miyata, who studies cross-dressing communities. Through this exchange, the event will highlight both the connections with and differences from existing transgender studies and gender/sexuality studies.

Through these discussions, the event seeks to share the theoretical and empirical challenges and possibilities surrounding non-binary experiences, and to envision new directions for sociological inquiry.

[Moderator]
Kairi Shimabukuro (Assistant Professor by Special Appointment, College of Liberal Arts, International Christian University)

[Presenter]

Kyoko Takeuchi（Department of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University）
Kyoko Takeuchi is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at Kwansei Gakuin University. They specialize in sociology and gender and sexuality studies, with a particular focus on the history of X-jendā/nonbinary activism and concepts. In recent years, they have also developed an interest in the formation of trans archives. Their major publication includes Hi-nigen-teki na Sei o Ikiru: Seiteki Mainoriti no Kategori Un’yōshi (Living Non-Binary Genders: A History of the Use of Gender/Sexual Minority Categories in Japan) (Akashi Shoten, 2025).

Yuumi Konishi (Ph.D Candidate, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Yuumi Konishi is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo. Her research focuses on issues of access to trans healthcare from a medical sociology perspective. Publications include Illness-care and validation-dependency in the diagnostic model for trans healthcare (2025, Sociology of Health and Illness) and Trans depathologisation and gender identity disorder in Japan (2024, Social Science & Medicine).

Lily Miyata (Part-time Researcher, Institute of Human Rights Studies, Kansai University)
They specialize in sociology of education. They mainly study transgender people and sex workers. Their research looks at gender and education, as well as HIV/AIDS policy. Their main book is The Life Histories of Transgender People: Toward Opening Pathways for Diverse Gender Formation (Koyo Shobo, 2026).

[Organizer]
Center for Gender Studies (CGS), International Christian University

[Planning]
Kairi Shimabukuro, Yuumi Konishi

[Support]
Yuumi Konishi, Wen Chloe, Ayumi Taniguchi