Yoyogi park

After breakfast, I made my way to the torii gate at the Meiji Shrine where I had arranged to meet my friend Tom, who happened to be traveling around Japan at the time. We pretty much arrived at the same time. From Meiji Shrine, we made our way to the festival at Yoyogi Park. The Pride festival was only just starting up when we got there, but within an hour the park was crowded. The theme of the event was "Press On Until Japan Changes".

There was a lot of corporate sponsorship at the event, once again indicating that businesses are in general more progressive than government. A couple of tourism authorities - notably Thailand, Guam, and Tahiti - also had booths. The Thailand booth went all out and featured kathoey (ladyboys) who posed for photo opportunities. There were also a lot of food stalls. Tucked into a quiet corner of the festival area were a numbers of booths crewed by foreign embassies exhibiting their LGBTQ initiatives. These included the United States, Sweden, the EU, and Taiwan. The crowd in attendance was diverse and international. I don't think I have heard this much English spoken in Japan before.

Tom and I had a great time wandering around the booths, snacking, and soaking in the atmosphere. We also met up with his friends Ryo and Pete, but we later lost them in the crowd.Read more