Akira the Hustler | |
---|---|
ハスラーアキラ | |
Born | Yukio Cho (張 由紀夫) 1969 (age 54–55) |
Nationality | Japanese |
Education | Kyoto City University of Arts |
Yukio Cho (Japanese: 張 由紀夫, Hepburn: Chō Yukio, born 1969), known professionally as Akira the Hustler (ハスラーアキラ, Hasurā Akira), is a Japanese artist, writer, actor, activist, and former sex worker.
Yukio Cho was born in 1969 in Tokyo, Japan.[1] He grew up in Germany, living there from age two until age eight after his father moved to the country for work, before his family resettled in Kobe.[2] He studied oil painting at the Kyoto City University of Arts, earning a bachelor's degree in 1992 and a master's degree in 1995.[1] As a university student, Cho became involved with campaigns to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Japan, and to reduce stigma against those with the disease.[2]
He took the pseudonym "Akira" while working as a call boy for an escort agency while living in Kyoto.[3] He would later return to Tokyo to work as an escort independently, advertising his services through gay men's magazines; he would later write a column for G-men, one of the most notable gay magazines in Japan in the late 1990s.[3] Along with BuBu de la Madeleine (formerly BuBu the Whore) and Mikado the Dominatrix, Akira the Hustler was a founding member of the Biters,[a] a performance art group whose members were both artists and sex workers.[4] The group's exhibition Donai yanen (lit. "So What"), which was inspired by their experiences in the sex industry, was shown at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1998,[1] Ota Fine Arts in 1999, and the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in 2000.[4] His autobiography A Whore Diary, which chronicles several of his encounters with his clients, was published by Isshi Press in 2000.[5]
In 2003, he helped found the Akta Community Centre, a sexual health clinic and counseling center in Shinjuku Ni-chōme.[6] He served as its director until 2011.[2][7]
Akira the Hustler works in multiple mediums, including performance, photography, video, sculpture, and painting.[8] His works often deal with themes of self-identity and social issues, such as LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS, and racism,[9] typically using outwardly bright and cheerful imagery to convey a more serious message.[10] He has become an outspoken critic of nuclearization following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, with anti-nuclearization becoming a prominent subject of his work and activism.[2][9]