Before going into detail, though, I think it is important to stress that whilst there are hundreds of gay bars and other gay venues like saunas, clubs and so on, the gay scene in Tokyo is nothing like Bangkok, Pattaya, Hong Kong, Manila or most other South East Asian cities. There are several reasons it is important to mention at the outset. Although the rise of the Shoguns at the start of the 17th century resulted in the thriving trading community of foreigners in Nagasaki being thrown out and the country being cut off from the rest of the word for 265 years, Japan had been all but isolated before the arrival of the European traders, Indeed, as more than one commentator has pointed out, there has been little addition to the country’s gene pool since the 8th century. Inevitably this has led to a very unique society. Japanese really had no choice but to look inward. Customs and the way of life never changed. As the population grew and with so little habitable land, everyone tended to live virtually on top of each other in tiny wooden houses. With privacy so difficult in such circumstances, Japanese had to learn to become adept at seeing but not seeing, hearing but not hearing and knowing but equally not knowing. Much of that remains the same today. For example, it is not unusual to see a middle-aged man sitting in a packed commuter train reading a porn manga book. Those standing around him will see it, but not see it. After they leave the train, they will not gossip about it. It is forgotten.
The Meiji Restoration changed much in Japan. The arrival of flocks of Christian missionaries also forced change re some societal norms, especially the acceptance of homosexuality which had more or less flourished beforehand but became frowned upon soon thereafter. But the adoption of so many western ideas never did much to change the basic norms of day-to-day society. Thus many aspects of Japan today can still seem strange and unwelcoming to foreigners. This is especially true in the gay bars. These will all be tiny with only a few accommodating more than between 12 and perhaps 24 customers. Although they are dotted all over the city, you will be very hard pressed to find most of them without a Japanese to guide you. You will also almost certainly be disappointed because outside of Shinjuku ni-chome, very few welcome foreigners unless with Japanese known to the mamasans.
Shinjuku ni-chome
First, the term chome essentially means district. So ni-chome is the 2nd district in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo. Here you will find around 300 bars, discos and couple of porn shops virtually all catering to the gay and lesbian community.
1. How do you find it?
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/dVQnsJ/Shinjuku2_chome.jpg)
The map above gives you some clues. You can see it is to the east of the huge Shinjuku station. I have circled Shinjuku (2) in red. I’ll highlight three ways to get there. Your destination for the first two is the BYGS Shinjuku Building (circled on the map).
a) From Shinjuku station you can easily walk to ni-chome in about 12-15 minutes. Take the south exit, turn left on Koshu Kaido and just keep waking. The map is not detailed enough to show that you cannot walk in a straight line. Where Koshu Kaido veers right, you take a slight fork left for one block and find yourself on Shinjuku Dori. Continue straight over it and soon you come to the BYGS Building on your right.
b) Or you can take the north exit of Shinjuku station, turn right and walk down Shinjuku Dori. You will come to a huge Isetan Department Store on your left. Keep walking straight across till you come to a dual carriageway on your left. There turn left and you soon see the BYGS store on your right. Just before the store, turn right. You are now in the gay bar area and can explore the small streets in roughly the area of the red circle.
If it is raining, you can get underground all the way from Shinjuku station. Just follow all the signs carefully, go down a few steps and turn left and find Exit C8
c) Subway. If you are coming from another part of town, you can take the red subway line – the Marunouchi Line – to Shinjuku-Gyoemmae station (pronounced Gy – as in ‘key’ with a hard ‘G’ – o as in ‘oh!’ – em as in ‘hem’ without the ‘h’ – and mae as the actress ‘Mae’ West).
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/iqSdzy/Shinjuku_Gyoemmae_Station.jpg)
Take Exit 1 from the west end of the train (the back carriage if you are coming from Shinjuku). At street level you will be at a pedestrian crossing. Cross straight over.
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/mpg5ey/Shinjuku_Gyoemmae_Exit.jpg)
You will then have a Family Mart on your left but go straight on for about 200 meters. Then turn left and walk up past a new construction on your left (this used to be a famous cruising park – alas now a modern building). On your right you will soon see Kings of College, one of Tokyo’s oldest escort bars with a lot of handsome guys, although few will speak much English.
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/icFyzy/King_of_College.jpg)
A few meters further on and you are right in the middle of the bar district.
Another alternative is to take the pale green Toei Shinjuku subway line to Shinjuku-Sanchome which is clearly marked and circled on the map. You exit into the underground passageway. Turn left and Exit C8 is very close.
Generally, a good bilingual Atlas is a huge help in finding your way in Tokyo. I always swear by this one which I found in Asia Books in Bangkok.
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/i1FnsJ/Tokyo_Atlas.jpg)
2. Is it a large area with loads of bars or is it more like Boystown, Sunee Plaza, and Soi Twilight?
No, and it is getting smaller as a result of redevelopment. But it does have around 300 bars. Unlike Bangkok and Pattaya, the bars are all stacked on top of each other in quite large buildings. Each floor may have up to ten bars. SO you can get around very quickly.
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/mFmtXJ/Building_with_bars.jpg)
3. What kinds of bars are there? Is it go-go bars, host bars, discos, all three?
Tokyo does not have go-go bars, at least not that foreigners can access. There is a raunchier area called Kabuki-cho which is to the north of Yasukuni Dori and a lot goes on there which only Japanese know about. The bars in ni-chome are all basically beer bars with a few discos and an even smaller number of escort bars. My guess is that less than 15 bars are mixed Japanese and gaijin (the Japanese term for farang). If you enter another by mistake, you will be politely informed or it will be made clear in some other way that you are in the wrong place. So essentially you are going to the bars to drink and hopefully meet up with a Japanese who wants to meet a gaijin. Same with the discos.
4. Do the bars have offs?
There are several escort bars. King of College has been mentioned. Janny’s is another. These exist so you can take a boy from the bar or up to one of their comfortable rooms. Three problems with these bars, though. The first is that few of the boys will speak anything other than Japanese. Communication can therefore be difficult. Ask the mamasan and he will point out the boys who do speak some English. The other problem is that many Japanese pre-order and have the boys go to their homes or hotels. So even though you have seen a website full of attractive young men, there is a good chance he will not be in the bar when you are there! Then there is a very rigid system of payment. You pay by the hour. It your tryst takes longer, there are set overtime charges.
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/dRUfCJ/Basic_Price_List.png)
¥14,000 is around US$125. There are also host "bars" with no bar, where you only pre-order your company from the website. All the websites are very specific about what a boy will or won’t do and when he is available, and you get charged only from the moment he arrives at your hotel room. Most require prepayment. I have never taken anyone off from these bars but know two people who have. Both reported the experience was very good and the service delivered was as stated. And although the process seems rather regimented, it is extremely efficient. My friends said they never had the impression that the boys were anything other than enjoying themselves by giving enjoyment to their customers.
From Host Boy Websites
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/cXXYXJ/Services2.jpg)
![Image](https://image.ibb.co/n2vbmd/Services.jpg)
5. Are short time rooms available?
The host bars have nicely furnished rooms on the premises.
6. What are prices like? Drinks, tips for boys, off fees, etc.
Drinks vary but are generally in the ¥700 - ¥1,000 range (approx. US$6.50 - $9.50). In the New Sazae disco, entrance is ¥1,000 which includes one drink. Thereafter drinks are ¥700. All very reasonable. Boys from the host bars expect nothing since their tips are included in the fee. Besides, tipping is not part of Japanese culture.
7. How much do the boys expect?
If you meet a guy in a bar, he won’t expect anything other than perhaps a train fare home in the morning. Public transport shuts down around midnight and don’t even consider paying a taxi fare. Taxis are hugely expensive. Boys from the host bars do not expect any additional payment.
8. Do you tip the boys in advance or after the tryst?
Host bars normally expect payment in advance and most, if not all, will take credit cards. Once you have made a date, the boy will always turn up.
9. If you are not staying in that area, are there any problems about bringing boys to your hotel?
I have stayed in all manner of hotels from 5-star to 2-star. Never once had a problem taking anyone back.
10. What about freelancers?
In my experience, there are not many around. But I do expect there will be lots catering to the Japanese market. There may also be a few on the apps, although on my last visit I encountered none. I would not consider freelancers as I would not be sure if they are genuine and will deliver what you want, whereas with host bars you certainly get what you pay for.
11. Do you have a particular favorite bar? If yes, what makes it a favorite?
That’s a question more for others to answer as I am almost always out with Japanese friends who take me to bars westerners will not normally get into. In ni-chome, I always found GB a great place to meet gaijin (yes, its name really is GB
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
12. Saunas
Tokyo has lots of gay saunas. Like the gay bars, though, only a few welcome foreigners. Arguably the most popular is 24 Kaikan in ni-chome located very close to King of College Host Bar. This attracts all ages from students through to pretty old Japanese. In the video GB posted on the Silom Soi 4 thread, the young commentator suggests it is one of the oldest in Tokyo. He’s wrong! It is one of the most recent! There is etiquette involved in saunas and I can go into that in another post if anyone so desires.
13. Other parts of Tokyo
For a westerner on your own, Shinjuku-ni-chome is really the only place to visit. The second area with the most densely packed cluster of gay bars is Ueno (pronounced Oo (as in loop) – a (as in gray) – no). But Ueno is much more of a blue-collar part of the city and I do not know of any bar that welcomes foreigners there. Certainly I have never been to one. But for sauna lovers the Ueno branch of 24 Kaikan is definitely worth a visit. It is about a 15 minute walk from Ueno station.
There is one more 24 Kaikan near the end of the orange Ginza subway line and quite close to the famous Sensoji Shrine in Asakusa (not to be confused with Akasaka which is in the middle of the city). This was the original 24 and has been showing its age for quite a few years now. It is mostly Japanese who go but you will occasionally see some young Japanese who are interested in hooking up in a sauna with a gaijin.
14. The apps
As everywhere, the apps are taking over and the usual ones are just as popular in Tokyo. Bar owners blame the reducing number of bars in Shinjuku ni-chome (down from at least 400) on the apps. But many Japanese who are interested in foreigners are sometimes concerned about their lack of English. So take a conversation slowly. It will pay dividends. I have met several guys from the apps. No money - not even for transport - was exchanged but I have taken ones I especially liked for dinner.