We read a report in the UK's Guardian newspaper about the story of two gay men in Amagasaki, just west of Osaka, who were turned away from love hotels. The male receptionist at one politely informed the couple that men were not allowed. Not to be deterred from their tryst, the men tried another love hotel in the area, only to encounter an overtly homophobic attitude. "Gay men don't use the facilities properly," they were told by the female receptionist without explanation. The two men are in a civil partnership of the kind given de facto legal recognition by local governments in ...

The transgender community does not get much mainstream attention in Japan as elsewhere, perhaps with the exception of Matsuko Deluxe, and the major debates over pronouns and gender definitions have not dominated public discourse in the same way as they have in other countries. Nonetheless, transgender sexuality has a long and vibrant history in Japanese culture, and the rights and needs of trans people need to be heard. Whether out of genuine agreement with this sentiment or out of woke cynicism that spotted a marketing opportunity, Pantene recently showcased the problems that transgender ...

Porn workers of the world, unite! Do Japan’s porn actresses and actors have labor rights? This was the question asked in a recent feature in the Japan Times. Ostensibly a report on a May 4th talk at a Koenji cafe, it was about the AV industry's response to Human Rights Now (HRN), which had issued a damning report about the local AV industry. The international NGO, which is based in Tokyo and has U.N. special consultative status, reported the results of an in-depth investigation into the pornography business in Japan. The report concluded that the industry had violated the human ...