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August 26, 2025
 

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LGBTQ

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."
LGBTQ activists gather outside Russia's Supreme Court building in Moscow on Thursday. The Supreme Court's banning of the "international LGBTQ+ social movement" resulted from a request from the justice ministry.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 1, 2023
Russia's Supreme Court bans LGBTQ movement and labels it as 'extremist'
The move forms part of a pattern of increasing restrictions in the country on expressions of sexual orientation and gender identity.
An pride flag is seen under a rubber door mat at an entrance to a basement of an office building in Kherson, Ukraine, in 2022.
WORLD / Society
Nov 14, 2023
Can EU talks boost LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia?
Several candidate countries have faced criticism over lack of protecting LGBTQ+ rights.
Paris Saint-Germain fans ahead of a match against AC Milan last month
SOCCER
Nov 9, 2023
Amazon under fire over homophobic slurs in broadcast of PSG game
During the Sept. 24 match between bitter Ligue 1 rivals, thousands of PSG supporters chanted homophobic slogans referring to their opponents.
Pope Francis greets people during the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Nov 9, 2023
Transgender people can be godparents or baptized, Vatican says
The Vatican's doctrinal office posted three pages of questions and answers on the topic in response to queries from a bishop in Brazil.
Participants pose for photos at a news conference ahead of the Gay Games in Hong Kong on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 3, 2023
First Gay Games in Asia set to begin, despite pushback
The event, which features both LGBTQ and heterosexual athletes, will see 2,381 people compete in sports including football and badminton.
The civil case centers on whether a foreign national in a same-sex partnership with a Japanese citizen should be granted “long-term resident status,” which allows residency for up to five years in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 2, 2023
Tokyo High Court rejects same-sex couple's residence status lawsuit
The civil case centers on whether a foreign national in a same-sex partnership with a Japanese citizen should be granted “long-term resident status.”
Plaintiffs, lawyers and supporters march to the Tokyo District Court on Nov. 30, the same day the court ruled that Japan’s lack of legal protections for same-sex couples is unconstitutional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 27, 2023
Japan's 'failed' same-sex marriage lawsuits can still propel reform
Even unsuccessful cases challenging Japan’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage have gotten courts to acknowledge a constitutional problem.
Participants hold a giant rainbow flag during a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride Parade in Hong Kong
WORLD / Society
Oct 25, 2023
How nations allow or restrict legal gender change
A small number of countries have made it easier for transgender people to change their legal gender, while other nations have restricted such changes.
Lawyers Kazuyuki Minami (left) and Masafumi Yoshida (right) representing a transgender woman show off signs that say "unconstitutional" and "sent back" to a lower court, during a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo after a Supreme Court decision.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 25, 2023
Supreme Court hands down landmark decision on transgender rights
A law requiring sterilization surgery to change a person's legal gender has been declared “unconstitutional."
A photo of Henry Li and his husband, Edgar Ng, hangs on a wall in their apartment at Ma On Shan in Hong Kong.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2023
Hope and heartbreak after Hong Kong court decision on LGBTQ partnerships
The LGBTQ community has seen incremental legal victories, but same-sex marriage remains out of reach.
Kanata Kimoto had his womb and ovaries removed in Thailand when he was 24, so he could have his legal gender status changed. Now he questions whether such an invasive and costly procedure was necessary.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 22, 2023
Calls grow to abolish Japan's surgery requirement for gender change
Between 2004 and 2022, a total of 11,919 people had their gender changed through the law in Japan.
Labyrinth organizer Russell Moench sparked controversy with transphobic tweets, leading booked artists to pull out of the highly regarded electronic music festival’s 2023 edition.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2023
Art and politics clash at Labyrinth 2023
A controversy surrounding the prestige electronic music festival sparks an old debate over separating art and the artist.
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.
From left: Prin, Sen and jiGook of QI.X call themselves one of the first openly queer, transgender K-pop acts.
CULTURE
Sep 30, 2023
Queer K-pop group QI.X wants to change South Korea
In conservative South Korea, few LGBTQ entertainers have ever come out. The young members of QI.X don’t see the point of staying in.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2023
Supreme Court may adjust requirements for gender status change
If the court deems the surgery requirement for a gender change to be unconstitutional, it is expected to pave the way for an amendment of the law.
Nobody wishes for a medical emergency, but preparing for one while you're in a foreign country can only make things easier.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Sep 18, 2023
How to avoid medical purgatory when hospitalized in Japan
Much like a legal will, a visit to the hospital is the last thing for which you want to prepare — yet doing so will save you stress and worry.
A statue of Lady Justice is seen at the Court of Final Appeal building in Hong Kong on Tuesday as the city's top court ruled in favor of same-sex partnerships, including civil unions, though it stopped short of granting full marriage rights in a partial win for the city's LGBTQ community.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2023
Hong Kong's top court rules to recognize same-sex civil unions
The ruling, a partial win for the city's LGBTQ community, stopped short of granting full marriage rights.
Gigi Chao, vice chair of Cheuk Nang Holdings, in Hong Kong on July 19
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2023
More LGBTQ rights could help Asian financial hubs draw global talent
In Japan, the only Group of Seven nation without legal protection for same-sex unions, corporations are seen as a key driver for change.
Since Waifu began, inclusivity goals have become more common in clubs across Tokyo.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 26, 2023
Queer clubbing moves beyond Ni-chome
Those looking for a safe space to party don't have to stick to one neighborhood in the capital.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Man arrested in Kobe stabbing had been staying at hotel near victim’s home
Masashi Tanimoto arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Kobe, is sent to prosecutors on Sunday.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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