There is a public park located a short walk from the main part of Nichome, Shinjuku's gay neighborhood. It underwent remodeling and reopened with fences and a gate. Unlike almost all other small parks in the city, it was now closed at night. The proximity of the gay district, whose denizens had presumably used the park to gather, drink, and possibly get intimate, was no coincidence.
Now we read about another case related to this.
The owner of a sento public bathhouse was understandably peeved that patrons were using his establishment to have sex. While Japanese porn might give you other ...
Sometimes Japan can seem behind the times.
While the American entertainment world is finally waking up to the endemic nature of the casting couch with a resulting scandal that may continue in waves for a long time, there seems to be (as far as we know) zero serious discussion of the situation in Japan. The casting couch (makura eigyo) is a prevalent problem that music idols, gravure idols, models and actresses all have to deal with.
Likewise, though the last couple of years have seen the global profile of trans rights raised immensely, no similar movement has taken shape in Japan. Sure, ...
Back in 2015 we reported about M.S.M. -- Men Who Have Sex With Men, an upcoming documentary by Ian Thomas Ash and Adrian Storey/Uchujin.
Despite the announcement, nothing seemed to happen with it and the official website went dead. We assumed the project had somehow fizzled out.
So we were very pleased to see that it is still alive, though in a slightly different form.
Ian Thomas Ash and Adrian Storey/Uchujin are still involved, but as producers and DOP. The title has changed, too, and presumably the content. It's now called Boys for Sale.
Boys are selling sex in Japan. Who ...
The 2016 Tokyo Rainbow Pride (TRP) march was held on May 8th and with other events all weekend long celebrating sexual minorities.
On the Sunday some 5,000 LGBT people and supporters walked between Harajuku and Shibuya, accompanied by 18 floats -- the most ever in the history of TRP. The event was centered on Yoyogi Park in Shibuya ward, which has established itself as a gay-friendly neighborhood after it became the first government in Japan to offer some sort of legal recognition of same-sex couples.
The revellers were joined by Caroline Kennedy, US ambassador to Japan, along with ...
Onna no Ko Club is fast becoming the biggest (and certainly the most accessible) player in the growing otoko no ko and josou cross-dressing scene. It already has bars in Shinjuku (in Nichome, of course) and Osaka where you can go to try dressing up as the opposite sex (or just watch if you're not into actual cross-dressing).
It was recently featured in the Ellen Page documentary about gay Japan and its manager interviewed by Kyodo News.
Now it has a new salon bar in Ueno, this time with stylish chandeliers.
Opening on April 1st, it is located in the Okachimachi area of Ueno, a ...
Gaycation is a new series from Viceland, Vice's TV channel, featuring Ellen Page and her friend traveling the world in search of gay stuff.
Episode 1 is Japan, especially Tokyo and Nichome.
Of course, Vice likes to veer toward the sensationalism, as its previous "schoolgirls for sale" article showed, and as such this episode does have some bad choices ("rent-a-friend agency and joining the party in the world's smallest gay bar").
It also starts with some cliched footage of Shibuya and halfway through resorts to shots of Scramble Crossing, but if you keep watching, there is some ...
Kyodo News recently had a feature on Onna no ko Kurabu (Girls’ Club), the popular cross-dressing bar and club in Nichome where you can try on women's clothes away from prying eyes.
The article highlights the "home from home" aspect.
Onna no ko Kurabu is not a drag bar with theatrical outfits and shows, but rather a relaxed space where a man can arrive straight from the office, perhaps in a suit, and indulge his feminine side with a complete transformation.
One side of this cozy bar is marked off with a heaving rack of outfits — everything from understated blazers to gowns with ...
Recently a Saitama civil servant got himself arrested for entering a female-only changing room at a spa while in drag.
Perhaps he should have gone to Tokyo...
Because Josokko Koishitsu (literally meaning "cross-dresser changing room" but with the English name Locker Girls Club) has just opened in Nichome, Shinjuku's gay district. Josokko Koishitsu (or "Kouishitsu" depending on your Romanicizing preferences) is a changing room facility especially for newhalf, otoko no ko cross-dressers and other types of transgender.
After all, if you are heading out to Nichome for some fun, ...
This story is super old now but we wanted to blog it anyway because it's important.
With its low use of condom usage, Japan is a bit of an HIV time bomb -- something the gay community is more proactive about. Complimentary condoms are frequently available at bars and clubs, and HIV awareness posters are also displayed in gay nightlife areas.
However, one HIV awareness poster was too much for the authorities and locals.
Designed by illustrator and animator Poko Murata, this billboard was hung in Shinjuku Nichome, Tokyo's main gay district, from December 2013. Its design soon became ...
Onna no ko Kurabu (Girls' Club) is where the action's at if you want an easy way to sample Japanese cross-dressing subculture.
Man or woman, you can go to the club -- currently one in Tokyo, with a new club in Osaka's down-and-dirty Dotonbori district from December 1st -- to try on girls' clothing. The club keeps a wardrobe of rental clothes and wigs for joso (or josou) cosplay, dressing up as a girl.
As we know, otoko no ko cross-dressing cosplay is big in Japan, though it is a hard-to-define point somewhere between "transvestite" and "cosplayer". Joso is the more conventional ...
