kyo is the pockets of respite you can find. In amongst the crazy. The busy. The neon. The crowds. You have pockets of greenery, or - in the case of Shinjuku's Golden Gai - pockets of retro. Delightful alleyways glistening with stories. Creaky, dodgy little bars full of soul. Totally my kind of thing. Throw in a ladyboy and I'm sooo ready for some good old fashioned tits and giggles.Of course not every fat foreigner and their bum bag can enter the bars of the Golden Gai. In typical Japanese style, there is a loyalty program. Patrons have been frequenting their local for years on end. Often decades. And a typical bar fits six to eight people. So you can imagine that newcomers are not particularly welcome. Especially weirdos with twangy accents and the scent of ignoramous seeping from their pores. How on earth did I get in then? Yes, well, I better back up a bit.
It 'twas the night before Kana's birthday party and I'd returned dutifully from Kyoto to the big T for the weekend (next entry will be about Kyoto -- namely Gion and the search for the Gaysha). Daichan was out drinking already and Kana returned to the apartment not long after I had stumbled through the front door, laden with bottles of sake and umeshu. Rather tired (or Fatty-gay as the French say) and noting that the next night would be an exceedingly naughty one, we thought we'd have an easy Izakaya dinner, a poke around the golden bit and a lookie into the lesbo bars. Of course Shinjuku on a Friday night is anything but Fatty-gay and instead crammed with a very lively and very lubricated crowd of mostly young working professionals. As we exited the subway I was reminded of my young (well, adolescent really) adventures in Sydney on the eve of the new year. Every maniac and his drunken mate were out. The city was swimming with laughter, lights, loud conversation and red faced groups supporting each other up (arms over shoulders, like comrades in booze) as they walked to the next drinking den.
Anyway, it was all rather exciting. Mouth agape (well me at least, sure Kana wasn't particularly perturbed), we braved the tsunami of merrymakers into a large pedestrianized street of neon. Clubs, Izakayas and the odd sex shop lined the street. We decided on a rather modern but cheap (fare from Y199) Izakaya for dinner and a few drinks. By the way, Izakaya is literally a "place for drinking" that serves food too. They are popular because they are casual, friendly and relatively inexpensive. Typical food items are yakitori (grilled chicken skewers), tsukune (also a chicken kebab, but minced chicken and barbecued or pan-fried), grilled fish and various snack-like foods (edamame are a given -- all Izakaya bring a bowl of these to the table when you arrive). I really dug the whole Izakaya thing. We went to a more classic one in Roppongi (Tokyo's other famous nightlife suburb) whereas the one in Shinjuku was hip and contemporary. Each table had a touch screen computer console so you could self-order. I loved the experience of both. I also liked the fact that they each had at least six different types of umeshu to try. So yeah, we ate, we drank, we laughed. We were soon joined by Daichan who had been sinking bevvies since 6pm. Needless to say he was rather jovial when he arrived and we literally burst out laughing at the sight of each other. Man that boy makes me laugh. Can't explain why, he just gets me giggling. And I seem to have the same effect on him.
Speaking of laughter, we get to the subject of walking down to the Golden Gai. Daichan has a friend, Katsume, who owns a bar there. Previously in the apartment when Kana and I were discussing what to do on this fine Friday night, she mentioned said friend Katsume and the bar. So the low down is that Katsume is a she that was once a he. And when she originally became a she, she was very beautiful. But at this preliminary stage of the Katsume story (which began in apartment) Kana starts to laugh. A silent kind of tumultuous laughter that shakes her whole body. I was like, "What? Is she fat or something now?" More laughter. Bends over holding stomach as if it's going to drop out from beneath her. This goes on for about 5 minutes. And is totally unlike Kana who - I have to say this in case anyone gets the wrong idea - is the most accepting and lovely and polite person I know. After the laughter subsides, her only explanation for all this was a simple "No, no, we'll go there and maybe then you will understand why I am laughing. Sorry. I don't know why I can't stop". A further spasm of cackle escapes before she takes a deep breath and gets it together. And now in the Izakaya I can feel that same laughter brewing again at the mention of Katsume's name. Daichan says "Aso so so so" (an ongoing joke which I will explain in another entry) and we decide to head directly to the source of such amusement.
We walk out from the bright, broad pedestrianized streets and up a little green pathway. This then leads down a dimmer street of closed offices. Ahead is the Golden Gai. We enter and I am immediately smitten with it. It reeks of charm, nostalgia and a splash of urine. Groovy old signs for jazz bars. Reminds me of James Bond and Pussy Galore. I do adore that name. And I do love a PG-rating. We wander through a number of slight passageways, each flanked by tiny little bars. Eventually we get to one that is closed. Or rather, appears closed. A phone number is hanging on a sign on the front door. This is Katsume's bar. Instead of calling the number (which you would do normally to ascertain your relationship with the host) Daichan looks up and calls out to Katsume. A cute little face appears in the window above. Words are exchanged. The door is opened and we enter upon an extremely narrow staircase and walk upward.
The room that greets us is warm and bright. Albeit small, the hellos and welcomes make up for the paltry amount of space. I am immediately introduced and smiles abound; it seems I am already liked without barely speaking. I have to mention at this point that I am wearing my favourite t-shirt "Snatch" which was given to me by one of my best scouser friends (Lisa Barman of Bangkok). The shirt is actually a release from the movie with details about the film on the back. Meanwhile the front just says in rather bold writing SNATCH. Lisa in all her ingenuity decided to buy the shirt for me but then cut a diamond shaped hole above the Snatch lettering. When you pull the shirt down so that this hole opens directly over your cleavage the effect of the other meaning for Snatch becomes rather clear.
Katsume is a cheerful nimbus of energy. She is on the rotund site and looks more like a butch dyke than a ladyboy which is the reason for Kana's laughter before. Kana explained "I just couldn't really describe her as ladyboy anymore, she looks more like lesbian". Katsume has a wicked sense of humour. She loves the whole Snatch trick and loves my big baboobas. I say "boob" she says "oppai" and lifts her shirt up to show off her nipples. The room is a fanfare of laughter. Then she pulls out a photo album and Kana proceeds to show me images of the before and after Katsume. I have to admit I'm kind of taken aback about how open she is and just how joyous she is. It was kind of like, "yeah that was me before, and this is what I am now, so what, I'm happy". Well that was the impression I got. And it was a treat to be there. I was consumed by a general good feeling. Hopefully Katsume remembers me when I come back. She's a gem.
So we stayed for a couple of drinks and then proceeded to the "gayer" part of Shinjuku so I could check out a particular lesbian bar called Motel 203. Walking into the gay area was fun but you can pretty much say that about any city. We also bypassed a shop that sold special "herbal infusions" which are not actually herbacious but in fact chemical-based and remain under the illicit substance radar of the Japanese narcotics squad. I won't say much more than that with the exception that we got well-stocked up and had a rather ecstatic time the night after. Without even using ecstacy.
Motel 203 was a little difficult to find and like the name, was found up an elevator and had an entrance seemingly like a hotel. Very chic bohemian. Hostesses with the mostesses. But poor Daichan couldn't come in - I suggested dressing up as a girl but we couldn't finger out how to hide the goatie. So Kana and I slinked in and had a few drinks while I perved and bemoaned the fact that I was in fact a week early for a proper big girl party. Anyway, it was very cool. I'd recommend it to any roaming rugmuncher who finds herself in Tokyo. While all the guests were Japanese, the owner and bar hosts speak good English and are very welcoming. Besides LGBT is an easy enough language for us sapphic sisters to get our tongues around. Surely we only have to purr "hello kitty" in Japan of all places.
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