IWAKAN Issue Archive

IWAKAN was a Japanese queer and art magazine published between 2020 and 2023 that questioned stereotypes and the discomfort with what was considered "normal" in Japan. It is part art magazine, part queer zine, part activist discourse, featuring interviews from a host of performers, drag queens, queer community activists, feminists from in and outside of Japan.

Below are links to summaries, publication dates and the table of contents of each IWAKAN issue, published on their online store. I have provided English translation for the issue titles and summaries.

• Volume 01 特集 女男 (Feminine/Masculine)
• Volume 02 特集 愛情 (Love)
• Volume 03 特集 政自 (Government/Individual)
• Volume 04 特集 多様性？ (Diversity?)
• Volume 05 特集 （不）自然 ([Un]Natural)
• Volume 06 特集 男性制 (Systems of Men)
• 未来の男性へーIWAKAN書簡集 (Dear Future Men: Letters from IWAKAN)

As someone who lives in Japan and is part of the queer community, I wanted to preserve a part of IWAKAN here in case the site goes down. I don't want to see this collection of personal stories and radical discourse lost to a broken link.

CJ Note: This is a labor of love and obsession with documenting queer and alternate voices in Japan. If you are a translator/native speaker and feel I've made an error, please contact me at (illuminesce @ pm (.) me).

Iwakan (違和感) is an uncomfortable feeling or sense of discomfort. The magazine's tagline is,「IWAKANは、世の中の「当たり前」に「違和感」を問いかける雑誌です。」or "IWAKAN is a magazine that questions what is "normal" and what is "discomfort" in the world."

IWAKAN's Linktree (includes Instagram, website and podcast)