Kodo’s calling
Like millions of others, my first exposure to the Japanese monk Kodo Nishimura was on an episode of Netflix’s Queer Eye: We’re in Japan, in which he appeared in a segment with Karamo Brown to give that episode’s hero some guidance. The short clip of the 33-year-old wearing his formal monk robes in a park while discussing racism on gay dating apps propelled Nishimura to fame, especially after people learned that the softly spoken monk was also a high-heel-wearing makeup artist.
When I meet Nishimura, he looks like a fashionista with a black beret atop his shaved head and dressed in a flowing outfit which he proudly points out includes one of his father’s old monk’s robes tied around his waist. We are in Pantechnicon, a six-floor, Grade-II listed building in London’s Belgravia, which is filled with restaurants, cafés and shops all influenced by Nordic and Japanese design and culture. It hosted a series of events to launch, although ironically for today’s interview he is wearing traditional Japanese sandals. Published earlier this year, the book is equal parts autobiographical, self-help and spiritual guidance.
