Tokyo Pride - A Weekend You Won't Forget

By: Aamer Xen
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So here I was, in one of the coolest cities in the world, celebrating Pride! And it was over 6000 miles away from my home city of Toronto, Canada.

Tokyo is a vibrant, busy and exiting city with so much going on in every corner. There are endless options for food, bars, shopping, attractions, and very sexy people.

And this weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in the LGBTQ+ community’s effort to share their visibility and to organize for love and equality - PRIDE WEEKEND!

Of course, being the social butterfly that I am, I went queer bar hopping in the Shinjuku district!  And as I’ve been told I’m very much a cub, I had to check out the relaxing and fun atmosphere of Tokyo’s Eagle. And I really wish I was actually in between these two on the wall!

The night ended with a group of us sitting on the stairs by the convenience store enjoying cup noodles and checking out the cuties walking by!

On Sunday, I attended the Pride march and community fair and it was just so beautiful. The parade was very community focused and there were no barriers to separate the onlookers from the marchers. Everyone was just cheering on the marchers and giving them hi-fives. You could just feel the sense of pride (pun intended) by everyone at this park! So many rainbow filled outfits and signs everywhere!

There were tons of booths with information about local Japanese and Tokyo LGBTQ+ organizations and initiatives, and of course tons of corporate booths giving away freebies and commercializing, I mean supporting, our communities.

Then I stopped this cutie to ask if I could take a photo of his shirt because I somehow have this new fascination for bears, but really I just wanted to say hi to him. So I took a photo of his shirt and then ran after him again to ask if we could take a photo together. I pretended I wanted to just have our shirts match in the photo but really I was imagining our wedding together. I mean just look at him!!!!

And oh look, more rainbow bears

I also met many, many people who were happy to pose with me and some of them have a big following on Instagram according to my Japanese friends

Oh, and Canada was representing there too! lol

And isn’t this just so cute? No, that’s not me, but it did give me some ideas for my drag make up.

The day ended with a free concert by the super loved Ayumi Hamasaki!!

I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to be in Tokyo for Pride. And if you’ve never been to Tokyo or have been but not during Pride, I can tell you now that it will be a weekend you won’t forget - or maybe you will if you mix too many drinks! Lol

For more info on Tokyo Pride: https://tokyorainbowpride.com