My life changed 30 years ago at a bar in Shinjuku.
I was in Tokyo on a short-term contract with the U.S. government as part of a university program that sent teachers to military bases. It was my first time in Japan and after three days I made my way to Shinjuku Ni-chome, an area roughly the size of 12 city blocks that’s known for its many gay and lesbian bars.
People didn’t congregate on the streets of Ni-chome in the 1990s like they do now. Instead, they’d head straight to their bar of choice and stay there. Most of the establishments catered only to Japanese customers, but there were a few that welcomed non-Japanese ones as well. The most popular among the mixed bars was GB. There was no Grinder or Tinder back then, so if you wanted to meet other gay people then GB was the place to do it.