Oct 28, 2007Quickie Link: Shinjuku's ever-evolving gay enclave
By vanrozenheim
(Japan) - Writing in the monthly subculture magazine Jitsuwa Knuckles, Kureichi Matsuzawa examines how social changes have impacted on the bars, boutiques and other establishments in Shinjuku Ni-chome, believed to number upwards of 400, which cater to the LGBT crowd. With the new trend toward openness, Gay-oriented places have become more dispersed around the metropolitan area and spread to the suburbs, leading some to wonder if this may make the enclave in Ni-chome irrelevant. But so far at least, predictions of the area's demise have proved premature. One of the factors spurring its revival has been a growing influx of Lesbians.
