【新住人インタビュー13】池添俊亮編「気になる男性がいれば自分から…」

[Interview with a new member]

My name is Ikezoe Shunsuke.

I'm 21 years old.

I'm working on becoming
a hair and makeup artist.

[REASON FOR MOVING IN]
The reason I want to join is...

Well, personally, I...

My last girlfriend
was about two years ago.

But, around that time,
I started to question my sexuality,

and whether I wanted to
date girls or guys.

At first, before I could even
figure out how I felt,

I struggled to acknowledge my sexuality.

"This isn't about romantic attraction,

but just the type of person
I'm interested in",

I kept telling myself that.

But I began to realize that wasn't true,

and worry that I was different.

I researched on the Internet,

but there wasn't much information
available on this topic,

so I wasn't sure what to do.

I realized it was something
I wanted to define within myself,

so if I could live with
both girls and guys

and challenge myself,

then I might learn something about myself.

That's my main reason for moving
into Terrace House.

[HAVE YOU COME OUT TO YOUR FAMILY?]
I haven't told anyone.

Probably, my parents will be surprised,

but I'm closest with my older sister

and I think she'll be the most surprised.

[WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM TELLING?]
When I applied to Terrace House...

I'm not hiding right now,
but I don't like this version of myself

who is indecisive and
unable to communicate my feelings well.

I want to learn to be more open.

Even though it's not gonna be easy,
I think this could be a great opportunity,

so I'm focusing on the positives.

The topic of sexuality is very difficult

One of the reasons I want to
work on hair and makeup.

is that I'm so grateful
for the acceptance I've received.

The hair and makeup industry is
very LGBT-friendly.

It has a lot of
Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual representation.

And if I can ever get a job in this field,

I think there will be a lot of people
who are understanding of my sexuality.

But starting tomorrow,

I will be living with people
from all kinds of occupations

and I think there might be
a few that are judgmental,

or guys who may not show any disapproval,
but internally feel weird about it.

That's what I'm most scared of.

[INTEREST IN HAIR AND MAKEUP]
When I was in sixth grade,

my sister put color contacts on me.

And at the time I didn't like it,

but really, once I looked in the mirror

I really liked how my face had changed.

After that, my sister showed me
how to shape and draw my eyebrows

and we started to do that
kind of thing a lot.

In the beginning, I just liked
seeing my own face change,

but I started to realize that
I wanted to do this for other people.

Last December, I started
to look into the requirements

and tomorrow I have an exam.

I'm very nervous.

[EVER HAD FEELINGS FOR A GUY?]
I haven't really said "I like you"

to that many people.

And I haven't gone on that many dates.

Even if I was interested,

I didn't say anything
and I hid my feelings.

There was someone I was interested in,

but I didn't make any moves and

I wasn't able to confess my feelings.

So I hope that living in Terrace House,

will be my chance to learn to
go for it when I'm interested in someone.

[WHAT'S YOUR TYPE?]
Very feminine girls or masculine guys,

I think that would be the type
I'm most interested in.

But I don't like guys with long hair...

I like short hair.

For girls, though, I like long hair.

I'm not very muscular,
so I prefer people who are strong.

[IF YOU LIKED TWO PEOPLE]
If I started to like two people,

I'd go on a date with each of them,

and I would go with my gut feeling,

choosing the person that I had the
strongest feelings for initially.

I really...

I used to feel that since I am a guy,
I had to take girls out.

I had that mentality ingrained in me.

But I've grown out of that mentality,

And I decided to go after
whoever I'm interested in.

And if there's a guy
who I'm interested in,

I want to tell them and see how it goes.

I want to get to know them and
go out to eat together.

I want to be in a relationship
with that kind of person.

[Translated by kurisuke]
[Timed by gabweeb]