On April 28th, the opening reception of Tokyo Rainbow Pride (TRP) took place in Shibuya. TRP pride week (held until May 6th) has fabulously started.

OUT IN JAPAN’s photographs are now displayed from the start point of TRP parade to Shibuya Park Street. It was really amazing to see the pictures of openly LGBTQ people everywhere in Shibuya, where thousands of people come and enjoy shopping.

hotel koé tokyo, the venue for the opening reception, is a luxury hotel built on the former site of Shibuya PARCO.

The reception party started around 6 p.m with DJ Shikisai’s performance enlivening the atmosphere. Chiyo Abe from Fuji Television Network and Bourbonne, one of the most famous drag queens in Japan, came up to the stage, filling the air with joy and laughter. Mr. Yamagata, the co-representative of TRP and the governor of Tokyo read their message on the stage. Mr. Kan from CHEERIO CORPORATION and Mr. Ishikawa from STRIPE INTERNATIONAL made a toast speech together (The DJ was playing Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” for the toast). Karina Maruyama, a former NADESHIKO JAPAN player, Yuki Ota, the chairperson of Japan Fencing Federation,and Fumino Sugiyama, a former professional fencer had a talk show. Kiyotaka, a singer, performed “We are One” on the stage. Mr. Maeda from Bunkyo Ward, Mr. Ishikawa from Toshima Ward, and Mr. Ishizaka from Nakano Ward came to the stage to show their support to TRP. After that, Babieno Bitch, Lil Grand Bitch, and Sashabsavannah performed The Three Degrees and Dream Girls. After the great performance, Nanae Takizawa, Hirotada Ototake, and Sayaka Akimoto, a former member of AKB48 read their message to show support to TRP. The opening party was such a wonderful event.

Tokyo Rainbow Pride Week has so many things to see and enjoy. Maki Oguro is going to perform at Party of Life in Shibuya on May 4th and the biggest news is Ayumi Hamasaki, is going to perform in the Yoyogi Park on May 5th and May 6th. This year’s TRP is going to be so much fun!

04/29/2018