From sweaty techno parties to late-night drag showcases, Kat Joplin explores how the city’s growing LGBTQIA+ district is creating space for trans and non-binary communities.
WORDS BY KAT JOPLIN HEADER DESIGN BY ANISA CLEAVER The Shibuya club is small but packed with life.
Rotating beams of coloured lights overhead, shivering curtains of blue and green hair on the dance floor. Stick-and-poke and abstract tattoos, heavy eyeliner, lipstick in shades of pink and turquoise.
Loud conversations shouted over the techno: Japanese, Portuguese, English, and more. Barely visible in the flashing lights, the walls are hung with pride flags and hard leftist political posters reading: “Trans Rights Are Human Rights” and “There is no LGB without the T”.