Homosexuality in Japan - the gay & lesbian experience: an overview of what it means to be gay in Japan. Vagueness, blurring of lines, ambiguity, possibility: these are some of the clichés that tend to spring to the Western mind when addressing the topic of sexuality in Japan. How much of it is wishful and how much of it is cultivated by Japanese themselves is debatable. It is a fact that samurai were pederasts, that kabuki is a theater of cross dressing, that to Westerners many Japanese boys and men - physically and/or behaviorally - seem to exhibit typically 'feminine' traits: all leading to the common impression of outsiders that Japan must be a basically gay friendly society. [Read more]
NEW!Gay in Japan Today: articles and interviews by gay and lesbian writers and journalists in Japan touching on various contemporary aspects of gay, lesbian, and transgender life in Japan. A growing page. Check out regularly. [Read more]
Gay and Lesbian Japan: Listings - Websites, bar and club information, and telephone numbers useful to gay and lesbian people in Japan. Most gay/lesbian related websites in Japan are in Japanese. We list the most useful and/or frequently updated sites in English. [Read more]
Tokyo gay listings - Websites, bar and club information, map of Shinjuku 2-chome, and telephone numbers useful to gay and lesbian people in Tokyo. [Read more]
Gay book reviews: gay Japan-related guides, commentaries, stories and studies. Read about and buy them here.
How to hit Ni-Chome: a guide to partying in Tokyo's gay Shinjuku area. You’ve just come to Tokyo, you’re passing through Tokyo, you’ve just come out in Tokyo, you’re – er – ‘curious’ in Tokyo. Whatever it is, there’s Shinjuku Ni-Chome (“knee-choh-may”), not even 10 minutes walk from the east side of Shinjuku station, unremarkable from the outside as any Japanese street block – or, for that matter, any 175cm Japanese boy in trainers, flak jacket, T-shirt, denim and sharp hair. But cross to the police box (and the adjacent ‘Nobunaga’ slot parlor) on the Yasukuni-dori corner of Ni-chome, or veer left across the road just at the big Sekaido art and crafts store on Shinjuku-dori, and – bang – just like with that boy, you’re going to be surprised at how much you didn’t count on seeing - maybe feeling! [Read more]
Tokyo Gay Lesbian Pride Parade: Tokyo's first organized, public celebration of being gay was in 1994. It all began with the Tokyo Lesbian & Gay Parade (TL&GP), organized by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) Japan. Since that time the history of what has now come to be called the Tokyo Pride Parade has gone through victories, hiccups, permutations, headaches and changes of costume to be the glorious celebration it is today. [Read more]
In the early years of this decade the transgender community in Japan underwent a media makeover that widened social understanding of what transgender means. Mainstream attitudes, however, still largely follow traditional gender lines and are clearly maintained in recent legislation dealing with “gender identity disorder.” However, the message from Japan’s transgender community remains “I want to be myself.”
The innocuous cover of the DVD 3-Nen B-Gumi Kinpachi Sensei ("Mr Kinpachi of 3rd Year Class B") belies how this long-running television drama destigmatized perceptions of transgender people in Japan. Since 1979, the program has been a catalyst in breaking down prejudices about social issues ranging from teenage pregnancy to homosexuality.
In the show, the 30 junior high school students of class 3B navigate the uncharted waters of adolescence with their empathetic teacher and mentor, Mr. Kinpachi. In 2001, audiences were introduced to Nao Tsurumoto, a new student joining the well-established school and its stable of familiar actors. [Read more]
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Gay and Lesbian Japan: Index
