To My Dear Friend: Furuhashi Teiji’s 1992 Letter and the Subversion of AIDS

Abstract

AIDS activism in Japan was long suppressed by silence among activists and officials after the virus first emerged in Japan in 1985, owing to fears of social ostracization for its initial association with Japan’s then-marginalized gay community. As attitudes shifted and AIDS became a more mainstream concern – a move prompted by the rise in cases among the heterosexual Japanese, as well as misogyny and xenophobia – stereotypes about women, male homosexuals and foreigners came to be associated with the virus. Concurrently, new modes of activism emerged through art and performance. In this context, Kyoto-based artist Furuhashi Teiji’s 1992 letter, in which he ‘came out’ with his HIV diagnosis, sparked discussions within Japan’s queer community. Connecting the letter to the wider artistic production of Furuhashi’s final years, such as S/N (1994) and the drag show Diamonds Are Forever, this study examines the artist’s reaction to his new status as HIV-positive, as well as his reframing of the virus as an agent of counterculture. Through his reading of AIDS, Furuhashi subverted the categories and stereotypes imposed by Japanese society on non-conforming bodies and individuals, offering an alternative to popular narratives on AIDS and an outlet of resistance against stigma. Examining the letter in combination with Furuhashi’s activity, both within and without Kyoto, this work thus also hints at how the artist’s impact extended beyond the 1990s, surviving to this day in the spaces and events that he set up in the last few years of his life.