Tag - drag

 
 

DRAG

A typical show for the Derek Toro persona features Ice Elloso as a suave, macho hero straight from a Schwarzenegger film, along with a trademark goatee and tons of props and gadgets.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 20, 2024
‘Drag is my superpower’: A night of pride for Filipino kings and queens
Sparkle: Road to Opulence, an April 19 lip-sync and drag performance, kicked off Pride weekend in Tokyo with a bang.
Drag queen Kylie Sonique Love performs at the third edition of Opulence. While the LGBTQ community suffered a few setbacks this year, there were also many occasions in which people could let loose and celebrate the scene.
LIFE / Lifestyle / 2023 in Review
Dec 10, 2023
Politics and pageantry for Japan's LGBTQ community in 2023
The year was one in which more Japanese members of the LGBTQ community began to push for rights such as marriage equality.
Drag queens (from left) Trinity the Tuck, Manila Luzon and Kylie Sonique Love headlined the most recent edition of Opulence, Tokyo's fast-growing drag performance extravaganza.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 10, 2023
The opulence of Manila Luzon
The Asian American drag queen who rose to stardom after a stint on "RuPaul's Drag Race" pays things forward with her Philippines-based show "Drag Den."
Yvie Oddly poses in front of Eagle Tokyo Blue, a Ni-chome bar instrumental in organizing many events around the Japan visits of "RuPaul's Drag Race" stars.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 2, 2023
A 'Drag Race' tour brings inspiration and profits
When the competitors of "RuPaul's Drag Race" come through Tokyo, the local scene gets a major boost.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2023
U.S. military drag show ban reverberates far away in Japan
The cancellation of drag shows has left organizers scrambling to find alternative venues or forced them to cancel the events altogether.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage / Reviews
Jun 13, 2023
Opulence: Glitter, glitter and a lot of gold
Seeing Tokyo-based drag queens perform with 'RuPaul's Drag Race' royalty would definitely make any local drag fans proud.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 26, 2023
Opulence: The international drag show that owns everything
'Drag Race' stars and Tokyo-based queens set the stage for a spectacle that aims to put Japan’s drag scene on the global map.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 30, 2023
Anger, joy and feelings of pride: Tokyo's biggest LGBTQ event returns in full form
Amid 'rainbow washing' and 'counter marches,' drag queen Le Horla writes about what the return of Tokyo Rainbow Pride means to them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 20, 2023
We're coming out: Tokyo Rainbow Pride is back, back, back, back, back again
After three years of muted celebrations, Tokyo's main LGBTQ party hopes to roar back to life with an in-person, public event.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 10, 2023
Japan’s first 'Drag Race' contestant hits the stage
Tokyo-based Swedish drag queen Endigo is representing the country's pop culture on “Drag Race Sverige,” a Swedish off-shoot of drag queen RuPaul’s award-winning reality television show.
Japan Times
Film / Reviews
Jan 19, 2023
‘Natchan's Little Secret': Outdated comedy runs out of gas
Yasujiro Tanaka’s comedy about three drag queens who hit the road for a friend’s funeral feels like a throwback to old-school TV shows with over-the-top portrayals of gay characters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 28, 2021
Yukiro Dravarious: ‘Before, drag queens were feared. Now, we’re celebrated!’
The TV show “RuPaul's Drag Race” has led to a boom in the popularity of drag that even extends to scenes that focus on both gore and glamour.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 7, 2021
'Beauty is pain': My night out in drag
A young man in Tokyo meets a Japanese drag queen who helps him discover parts of himself he had been reluctant to acknowledge.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jun 5, 2021
TikTok, YouTube, drag and a World of Xtra
As World of Xtra, Stan Fukase promotes pride and understanding in the Japanese LGBTQ+ community.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 27, 2020
Werq the World: Bringing the queens of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' to Tokyo is nothing less than a crowning achievement
When Tom Hall had the idea to take monthly 'Drag Race' viewing parties and turn them into performance events he found an unlikely partner in Ni-chome impresario Yuta Furukawa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 15, 2017
Finding a family in Japan's foreign drag scene
Western drag queens living in Tokyo, Kansai and Nagoya discuss the differences between the scene in Japan and back home.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
May 1, 2014
Austrian drag queen to contest Eurovision crown
Drag queen Conchita Wurst will take to the European stage as Austria's contender for Eurovision, the song contest that pits nation versus nation and launched the global careers of ABBA and Celine Dion — Wurst's idol.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Sep 23, 2008
Vivienne Sato
Vivienne Sato is a unique cultural concierge in Tokyo, full of the lowdown on both high art and mass culture. Vivi knows what and who's happening in the city 24/365, and if she's present, the party is on till the wee-wee hours. Always dressed to the nines — and often to the nine hundreds — with her signature towering wigs and platform shoes, Vivi rules over the city's night scene as a benevolent drag queen. Her social life might be an endless partyathon, but her private one is all about art: She is a painter, illustrator, movie critic and architect. And this homebody alter-ego is no party animal: The artist Vivi loves working in the quiet with just the hushed steps of her 17 tarantulas providing the background music: Italy's Tarantella, of course!

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores