Kodo Nishimura (西村 宏堂, Nishimura Kōdō; born February 13, 1989 in Tokyo) is a Japanese Buddhist monk, artist, and author. He is an advocate for LGBTQ rights.
Kodo Nishimura (西村 宏堂, Nishimura Kōdō; born February 13, 1989 in Tokyo) is a Japanese Buddhist monk, artist, and author. He is an advocate for LGBTQ rights.
Nishimura was born in 1989 and grew up in Tokyo. His father was a Jōdo-shū Buddhist priest, and Nishimura was raised in his temple. He studied ikebana for eight years.
After watching The Princess Diaries in junior high school, Nishimura became interested in visiting the United States.
Nishimura briefly struggled with his perception of his own beauty as an Asian man before discovering makeup, which he did not use in Japan because of social stigmas. After graduating from high school, Nishimura moved to the United States and studied at Dean College, where he asked drag queens working at makeup stores questions about what to buy. He then purchased makeup and learned how to use it. He graduated from the Parsons School of Design majoring in Fine Arts.
Nishimura began working as a makeup artist when he was 22. He got an internship with a makeup artist that later led to a job. His work was featured in Nylon and Life & Style. He also does makeup for beauty queens in Miss Universe and Miss USA contests. In addition, Nishimura spends time teaching LGBTQ+ community how to apply makeup.
Nishimura came out as gay when he participated in a photo shoot for Out in Japan. He describes himself as "gender gifted", a term he uses to release himself from the box of man or woman. He doesn't view his gender as male or female, only his body as male.
When he returned to Japan, Nishimura began to train as a Buddhist monk in the Jōdo-shū sect. At first, he was hesitant to do so, but after consulting with a master, he realized that he could be both a Buddhist priest wearing makeup and heels as long as his goal was to spread Buddhist beliefs about living in happiness and harmony with others. He was fully ordained in 2015 and started to talk about Buddhism and sexuality at places such as United Nations Population Fund, Yale University and Stanford University.
He made an appearance on an episode of Queer Eye in its Queer Eye: We’re in Japan! season.
In 2020, Nishimura wrote the book, "This Monk Wears Heels: Be Who You Are," an autobiography about Nishimura's struggles growing up as gay in Japan and the difficult transition of being a foreigner in the United States. The book is self-help oriented, with the intent to inspire readers to find comfort and confidence in living as their authentic selves.
In March 2022, Nishimura was the subject of an NHK World-Japan documentary, "A Monk Who Wears Heels".
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