Index of articles, click here.
Shinjuku ni-cho-me, Tokyo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjuku_ni-ch%C5%8Dme,_Tokyo
Shinjuku Ni-cho-me, referred to colloquially as Ni-cho-me or simply Nicho-, is Area 2 in the Shinjuku District of the Shinjuku Special Ward of To-kyo-, Japan. With To-kyo- home to over 8.2 million people, and Shinjuku known as the noisiest and most crowded of its 23 special wards, Ni-cho-me further distinguishes itself as To-kyo-'s hub of gay subculture, housing the world's highest concentration of gay bars.
Within close walking distance from three train stations (Shinjuku San-cho-me Station, Shinjuku Goenmae Station, and Japan's busiest train station, Shinjuku Station), the Shinjuku Ni-cho-me neighborhood provides a specialized blend of bars, restaurants, cafes, saunas, love hotels, gay pride boutiques, cruising boxes (hattenba), host clubs, nightclubs, massage parlors, parks, and gay book and video stores. In fact within the five blocks centering on street Naka-Dori between the BYGS building at the Shinjuku San-cho-me Station and the small Shinjuku park three blocks to the east, an estimated 200-300 gay bars and nightclubs provide entertainment.
The history of Ni-cho-me as a gay neighborhood generally begins around the time of the American Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) and ties strongly to the fall of its red-light districts (akasen).[4] As early as 1948, there is mention of a gay Shinjuku tea shop, and by the 1950?s gay bars publicly emerged both in name and form within Ni-cho-me.[5] Prior to 1957, To-kyo-?s red-light districts had flourished as legally-licensed centers for sex workers, but armed with a new constitution and an Equal Rights amendment, post-occupation Japanese women?s Christian groups et al. successfully lobbied the Diet to pass the Prostitution Prevention Law in 1956. For the first time in history, prostitution in Japan became illegal, and as the traditional sex industry left Ni-cho-me, a gay subculture began to fill its place. By the late 1950?s Ni-cho-me was known for its popularity amongst the gay subculture, and a club scene began to emerge. From the establishment of a counseling room for young gay men in 1976, and the first AIDS candle light vigil in 1986, to the 1992 inauguration of Tokyo?s annual International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Japan?s first lesbian and gay pride parade in 1994, and the founding of its first gay community center, AKTA, in 2004, Shinjuku Ni-cho-me continues to provide a home base for many milestones in the history of Japan?s LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered) community.