Welcome to Shinjuku 2-Chome, the gay center of Tokyo. Nestled in the tail end of the busiest shopping district in Tokyo (aptly placed), the gay hood is barely one city block and sliced into a few smaller blocks so there's a little back-street weaving to be had.
The above pic was taken during the day when the hood is practically deserted. At night, it turns into a bustling fagopolis and you can see up to 30 or 40 gay men walking the streets! Nobody holds hands. No big tongue-wrestling kisses. No bears in tank tops and tight chaps. No drag queens. No naked men with pierced everything flopping a semi-erect penis around in public. In fact, it's hard to tell which guys are gays and which are straight.
As with many shopping areas in Tokyo, you have to look up to make sure you don't miss a store. Many of the bars are in apartment buildings, so there'll be 3 or 4 bars in one building. There are only a couple of gay bookstores and they are tucked away in some narrow passages, with a little rainbow flag above the entrance and block letters in English: MEN ONLY.
I'm assuming that gay life has masterfully infiltrated the outskirts of Tokyo because considering this is a city of 12.5 million inhabitants, this tiny area is a pitiful representation of the queer lifestyle. I can only imagine what gay men from Tokyo visiting the Castro must think.
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