This being my first memorial service in Japan, I wasn’t sure what to expect at the event remembering porn superstar Koh Masaki held last night at Aisotope Lounge. Fortunately, there were plenty of drag queens, go-go boys, and a room packed with fans of his nightclub and video performances. There was a surprisingly large number of women fans.
I’ll be posting some photos from the stage show, which included Koh’s widower Tenten Sky and many performers from “Rush cruise” and Badi.
Sublime and random Tokyo gay stories in August:
1. A gay Italian visitor to Tokyo is *shocked* at the sight of Japanese men using paper fans to cool themselves on trains and sidewalks. “In Italy, only women and fags dare use a fan.” There is nothing more satisfying than observing an Italian man surprised by another nation’s male effeminacy.
2. My new super-gay hairdresser (rare in a country where most are straight) has recently told me about his working the festival circuit with his yakuza friends carrying a portable shrine shoulder to shoulder and dressed in fundoshi (ritual male thongs), his earlier stint at a Ginza hair salon when he cut the hair of minor royals, and advice about yankii and nudist beachs in Chiba.
A few years younger than this author, my new gay Japanese sensei is also a middle-aged competitive body builder, with distinct orange in his hair and skin tone. Did I mention that we met at Haguromo, the super-gay and sometimes yakuza-filled sento? How often can I get my short hair cut? He’s talented with hair and full of helpful stories and expressions.
3. I’ve heard that many Japanese prefer “small faces.” Just recently, a Japanese friend explained that Japanese distinguish between weak faces (うすい、薄い）and strong faces（こい、濃い). Previously I understand that these adjectives are applied to liquids like tea (literally, the concentration through quantity and steeping time) and even to food types (sort of like light and heavy).
Apparently with people, so-called weak faces have “fewer distinguishing features” or “fewer things sticking out.” Strong faces have deep set eyes, large noses, more prominent chins. This distinction is at once racial and yet pretends not to be. I have a hard time grokking this, but will be more open to hearing about these immutable differences.
I heard about this BL (boys love) game called Lucky Dog from Bangin. After the disappointing visit to Miracle Jump BL (where, as Kathryn writes, there is “not even a bit of eye-fucking”), this game might be all the BL I need. Warning: this “gay” content is made by and for women.
The last PM’s wife claimed to have traveled to Venus and to feed daily by eating the sun with her husband. Current Prime Minister’s wife Kan Nobuko wife said that if she lived her life again, she would not choose the life she had already lived. And her reports of tough love suggest that their daily life is full of volatile policy and personal conflicts.
From the BBC News (via tipster Christophe):
The prime minister’s wife said she supported him by giving him such a tough time at home, and that he preferred going to parliament for question time.
“My husband sometimes says to me: ‘I really hate going to the Diet because everyone is so mean and critical, but it’s a lot easier being subjected to this criticism at the Diet than fighting at home with you’,” she said.
“That’s a way to get him out of the house and go to the Diet, so maybe that’s the way I can support him.”
These would be unimaginable words spoken by the Stepfordly obedient and adoring wives of United States presidents. Is this a sign of freedom and power, or something else entirely?
Unmentioned in this new story is the role that Ms Kan reportedly played rehabilitating her husband’s political image after a sexual harassment scandal in the 1990s. Others credit her outspokenness to the powerless of Japanese women, whose statements do not carry much importance no matter how incendiary.
Oh, and apparently she wear very elegant kimonos and speaks in a vulgar manner. I will try to learn more about Ms Kan.
(Don’t worry, Kathryn, there’ll be more Nakano yankii hotties soon after this political detour).
This post is especially for Kathryn, my #1 reader and blog commenter.
I was innocently on my way to the Taikukan (体育館）public pool– a place as infamous for gays as the summer-only Shiba Koen pool— when I noticed dozens and dozens of young women holding up sad hand-written signs and fans with the unmistakable images of Arashi. Yes, Arashi was performing at the nearby 1964 Olympic stadium, Kokuritsu.
Apparently these girls were praying that some scalper would come by and sell them some tickets. Or maybe they just wanted to hang out with other fangirls and compare photo fans?
ps: I know that these boy bands attract female fans, but what about this image screams hetero to you?! I am not seeing “non-gay,” are you? ^^
So much fun drag at the Tokyo Pride Parade last weekend. I love how Marie Antoinette stands near the 60s mod flight attendant (whom the husband thinks is a famous person; anyone know who she is?).
The drag fun also included some real women in fantastic outfits, including this very happy pink bunny above. I love how the lady below made her dress and hat and necklace all out of the ubiquitous blue sheet.
There was also some fierce foreign drag.
An interesting “international” couple with lady towering over gent.
And another variation of the American flag as costume.
The latest fundamentalist church activity are anti-porn workshops for women. Who wants that? I guess I am glad to read that some people are profiting from this. I would hate to think people would want to do this for themselves. There does seem something kinky about spending so much time thinking about porn, discussing it in groups, and maintaining “accountability partners.”
Freaky insights include one lady recovering from childhood sex abuse who realizes that healthy Christian sexuality replaces personal satisfaction with satisfying your husband: “I’m learning the correct way of intimacy and bonds. It’s learning what your spouse wants, his needs.”
As Chelsea Handler would say, “America, you are one hot mess.”
The San Francisco Chronicle quotes film critic Jan Wahl saying “she can’t wait to see the TV movie of the Tiger Woods story: ‘Finally, a movie with lots of parts for women.'”
Oh, Japan Times. Bringing us the news we need. God bless you. The story above tells the tall tale of Nagoya police going undercover in drag to catch purse snatchers. For reasons unexplained, women police officers were not given the opportunity, and the men were selected for short stature and martial arts expertise.
Despite the obvious preparation, as documented in the photo above, not a single criminal was arrested! I love the policeman’s vow, “We’ll never forgive criminals who target women.” I guess forgiving is one thing, being effective is another.
The only result seems to be increased skill acquisition on the part of “young, skinny” male police officers, and the louche appreciation expressed by passing motorists. Apparently it takes more than high heels, wigs and designer bags to catch a criminal. Or as my sister-in-law says, this sounds more like a “hobby” than a public safety exercise.
OMG! Ponzi uber-criminal Bernie Madoff had a 20 year romantic relationship with the chief financial officer of Hadassah? So claims Sheryl Weinstein in a book coming out at the end of August. Philanthropic adultery with a leading Zionist women’s organization is perverse at so many levels: Ms Weinstein’s charity was one of the early “investors” that received far more for its investments than it paid, yet Ms Weinstein also claims to have lost her and her husband’s personal fortune. Also, this new confession may be good news for Mrs Madoff (aka, Ruthie), who can use it as evidence that she had *no* idea what crimes her hubbie was up to. As my older relatives often said, “This is *not* good for the Jews.” Or as my husband would say, “Some people are desperate for attention.”
Tokyo Moe 