'RuPaul's Drag Race' alum Yuhua Hamasaki on embracing her Chinese heritage through drag

Yuhua Hamasaki opens up about creating her drag persona through trial and error and how she's been able to find community through the New York City drag scene.

Video Transcript

YAHUA HAMASAKI: I think that anybody can do drag. Five, six years ago, people were saying, oh, well, only cis gay men can do drag. But in this day and age, people are more open-minded about who can do drag because I think that discussion has been had. Representation really matters.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hey, everyone. My name is Yahua Hamasaki, she/her in and out of drag. And I'm in New York City. I've always had a love for performing. Not just that, but I also enjoy makeup, hair, costumes, shoes. So when I first discovered drag, I was able to combine all those things together.

And I thought to myself, that is so magical, because as a kid, I would perform as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson. I just didn't know how I would go about doing all those things and make it into a career.

I was born in China. I moved here when I was seven years old. And I went to middle school, high school, even elementary school in Chinatown. The community in Chinatown is very conservative. It's very rigid. But I think that over the years, it has progressed a little bit more. It's a little bit more accepting of queer culture and other sexual orientations and identities out there. But I feel like when I was growing up, it was a little bit hard because they didn't understand it. My parents didn't understand it as well. They just thought that I was mentally ill.

Currently, they think that I work at a restaurant. They have seen pictures of me in drag before. They didn't really like it, so I kind of just stepped away from communicating with them about it. It's easier for me to have them live for the rest of their years a little bit more peaceful rather than just fighting with them and arguing with them. Some people might think like, oh, wow, you're hiding your life from them. But no, that's just the way it is for me, and I'm OK with it.

Drag became an outlet for me, I would say, in my late teen years. I would say around 16, 17-ish. My first time at a drag show, believe it or not, it was RuPaul. I was 17. It was 2007. And seeing her so open with the wigs, with the outfits, and her personality on stage, I knew that I wanted to be something of that sort.

And I discovered that I can make a living out of it and also a way to express myself. I was like, wow! Yes! I'm queer! Look at me-- and all that stuff. I was able to grasp back all those years that I didn't have fun as a kid.

My first time on stage was 2009. I performed Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For," and I had an amazing time. I'm not going to lie. I was pretty nervous about it, before going on. But I knew that I had prepared it. So it was either go on stage, make the most out of it, or just never start. And I had to start from somewhere, so that was my start.

When I first started doing drag, there was nobody to mentor me, honestly. It was kind of like peeking over at what the person next to you was doing with their makeup. And I felt like there were really no way to learn how to do makeup-- for me, specifically-- because everybody else was a different race. And of course, the contouring, the highlighting, and the makeup is a little bit different.

So I started digging back into the films that I watched as a kid, soap operas that I watched as a kid, and they were all very traditional Asian aesthetic. So I started doing the bigger eyebrows, the more dramatic red eyeshadows, a lot of Asian attire to my drag.

Everything that I learned was from trial and error. I just wanted to be around people that were similar to me, who share the same stories, difficulties, and obstacles.

My favorite part to perform in Manhattan is definitely downtown Manhattan. That's where I started-- East Village, West Village. I feel like people are just more rowdier. People are more out there. It's a little bit more grittier, I feel like. I want the crowd to be like, rah! You know? I want them, like, crazy because that's where I feed off the energy, too.

Hello, Pieces Bar! Welcome to "Drag Race" Fridays here. Woo!

[CHEERING]

Oh, my god. It's a new season of "Drag Race." Who's excited?

[CHEERING]

OK. Let me hear the back scream. Come on.

[CHEERING]

Let me hear the front scream.

[CHEERING]

Middle, scream.

[CHEERING]

And let me hear the whole world scream.

[CHEERING]

Yeah.

If you meet me offstage, I'm kind of still the same person. I still talk the same way that I talk. I still have the same personality. Whereas, when I'm on stage, it's turned up 1,000%.

I want y'all to raise a pint in the air and take a big toast to Friday Night here, in the West Village, because this is a landmark for LGBTQIA+ people. OK? Cheers.

Interacting with me, I want the audience to feel prideful of who they are, shot that kindness still exists. Compassion still exists. And I just want to push the boundaries to be living in a better world.

- Peace, as well. Let's hear it for your hostess. Make some noise for Yahua Hamasaki.