Kodo Nishimura


Kodo Nishimura 2=西村 宏堂 is a Japanese Buddhist monk and makeup artist. He is active in both Japan and the United States. He is gay and an advocate for LGBTQ people.

Early life and education

Nishimura was born in 1989 and grew up in Tokyo. His father was a Jodo shu 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.

Career

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 contests. In addition, Nishimura spends time teaching transgender women how to apply makeup.
Nishimura came out as gay when he participated in a photo shoot for Out in Japan.
When he returned to Japan, Nishimura began to train as a priest. At first, he was hesitant to do so because of his career as a makeup artist. He thought that being a makeup artist might not conform with Buddhist beliefs. After consulting with a mentor, he realized that he could be both a Buddhist priest and a makeup artist 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 serves in his father's temple.
Nishimura splits his time equally between his work as a makeup artist and his work as a priest.