Tokyo

Shinjuku Ni-chome is the absolute heart: ~300 gay bars in 5 blocks around Naka-dori — the densest LGBT area in the world. Most are tiny venues (10-15 people) specialised by tribe: bear, drag, lesbian, mixed, twink. International icons: Arty Farty and Aiiro Cafe (a corner open to the street, where visitors gather), Dragon Men, GB.

Secondary scenes: Ueno (95 classic bars), Asakusa (67), Shinbashi (66) and Ikebukuro (21) — geared to an older local Japanese clientele, with little English and few tourists. Roppongi adds a mixed international atmosphere with a notable foreign presence.

Tokyo Pride —Tokyo Rainbow Pride until 2024— is held in June in Yoyogi Park (Shibuya) — one of the biggest Prides in East Asia, although attendance is still modest for a city of 13.96M people. It was created in May 2011 to guarantee Tokyo a parade. It was cancelled in 2020-2021 because of COVID and came back in full format in 2023.

The Rainbow Week around Pride includes parties in Ni-chome, cultural events and a fair of LGBT organisations. Outside June: regular activities at the akta community centre and one-off events at venues such as Arty Farty.

Shinjuku Ni-chome (新宿二丁目, literally "Shinjuku Area 2") is the densest LGBT area per km² on the planet. Five blocks around Naka-dori street, between the BYGS building at Shinjuku-sanchome Station and the small Shinjuku park to the east.

Its origins are documented from 1948 (the first gay tea house), and it took hold in the 1950s, when the traditional sex-trade venues emptied out after the 1956 ban on prostitution and gave way to gay bars. Stations: Shinjuku-sanchome (Marunouchi/Fukutoshin/Shinjuku Line), Shinjuku Gyoenmae (Marunouchi) and Shinjuku Station (huge, a 10-minute walk).

The akta community centre (Ni-chome, since 2003) is the neighbourhood's HIV and sexual health information point, open to anyone. OCCUR and Regumi (lesbian) are the historic organisations, and Stonewall Japan runs a network of expats and locals. Japan's first Pride parade was held in Tokyo in August 1994.

Tokyo Metropolis has issued same-sex partnership certificates since 1 November 2022, covering local rights (housing, hospital visits) but with no equivalence to marriage (which still does not exist in Japan at national level). Shibuya Ward was the first municipality in the country to issue an equivalent certificate, in 2015. LGBT-friendly health services: private clinics in Shinjuku and Roppongi with HIV treatment and paid PrEP.