Japanese Gay Art

Mr. Tatsuya’s personal exhibition will be held in Osaka from August 25. He took part in the Sydney Mardi Gras for the last two years so some of you will be familiar with his work already. It is expected that the works which will be displayed are connected to his previous works. This will be his second personal exhibition, held 5 years since his first one. As for me, I plan to go to Osaka in the last weekend of my stay in Japan and of course I plan to take a look at his exhibition and let you know how it is.

A comment from the artist:

As before, I have been painting only things to which my heart is attracted. I am free to express my love towards these things inside the picture. And I shall be really happy if you, while standing in front of my painting feel the same “love” as I do.

Place: Dista 4F -17-5 douyama–cyou kita-ku, Osaka-city, Osaka Fu
06-6361-9300
http://www.dista.be/

25 August to 13 September (closed Tuesdays)
17:00-23:00
Admission free

‘Circle’ by Tatsuya Naoki

‘Circle’ by Tatsuya Naoki

I recently took part in the opening of the 11th exhibition of sexual minorities’ art group. Many artists like Kanji Shimizu, Toboji and Kow as well as some other artists who I have introduced you to via this site took part in it. There are many other interesting artists that took part in it too so if I have a chance I hope to introduce them all to you. The exhibition has already finished, but next time it’s on I’ll let you know before.

Rainbow Arts Exhibition flyer

Gengoro Tagame has introduced me to a new artist. He creates figures and illustrations, his figures are very impressive. I can say for sure that he is a new artist as this is his first public introduction, you’ll struggle to find any mention of him in the public sphere, even on the web. The Rainbow Arts Exhibition was the first event he took part in. I’d say he is a rising artist. Before he stared making figures he used to be an illustrator for G-Men, Barazoku and other publications in Japan. He possesses a very good sense and technical skills so I expect he’ll continue to grow and develop his talents. I really expect him to become a great artist. What’s your impression of his works?

Figure by Itetsu Ogura

Figure by Itetsu Ogura

I recently met with Mr. Bungaku Ito, the publisher and editor in chief of Barazoku magazine. He said that he has kept some of the artworks that appeared in the magazine in his personal collection, and though many of them have already been sold away it will soon become possible to purchase some of these works. I still don’t know what the collection consists of but possibly there are sketches by Go Mitsushima and Sadao Hasegawa. As soon as I get them, I will upload the images here.

Mr. Ito was recently featured in an English gay culture magazine. Check it out at http://www.outtheremagazine.com/

With Mr. Bungaku Ito in Tokyo

Earlier this week I headed to Gengoroh Tagame’s new exhibition on it’s opening day. Mr. Tagame has shown his works in exhibitions several times but has never had a solo exhibition in Japan before. It’s a retrospective show with works with created over his lifetime, together in one place for the first time. With works from G-Men magazine, magazine covers, comics, and others I can guarantee that the exhibition is a major climax.

If you love gay art and are in Japan I fully recommend visiting the exhibition. As Mr. Tagame himself said, the places where you can see gay art in Japan are limited, especially where there is display of naked bodies and sex scenes. Though Tokyo is considered to be a very modern and tolerant place, Japan as a country is very conservative. I strongly wish that inside Japan more and more people will being to understand gay art, a scene in which Mr. Tagame places a leading role. Definitely a reason why you should visit this show.

The exhibition is open till the August 21, with a public talk on the 14th.

‘Works’ by Gengoroh Tagame

9 to 21 August
Vanilla gallery

4F dai 2 Kamata building 6-10-10, Ginza, Cyuuou-ku ,Tokyo

Entrance fee 500Yen

Mr. Tagame will be giving a talk on the 14th of August at 17:00, entrance fee 1,500 Yen.

Gengoroh Tagame at his 'Works' exhibition

Melu’s debut manga was published in 2007and since then his works have been published in both BADI and G-men. He also published two mangas ‘Four Seasons’ and ‘Hateruma Journey’. Now he draws manga for women and is expanding the field of his activities. Cartoonists often use CG to create manga nowadays, but he usualy draws manga by hand. Soon I’ll have access to some of his works if you are keen to have some gay manga on your wall.

Melu manga

For the Tokyo bar Mezzo Forte, Wednesday is a special day. On that day every week Mr. Noriaki Fushimi becomes the owner and bartender. In 1991 Mr. Fushimi published the book “Private Gay Life”, and came out as a gay man and influenced the gay movement of 90′s. To tell the truth, he was the first gay person whom I knew about when I saw his story on TV. Of course there were some male singers who looked like transsexuals but he looked like a totally straight man, and I still remember that his coming out on TV was a real shock for me. One can say he is the first man who opened the gay door in modern Japan. Since then he has been commenting about homosexuality, gender and sexuality insisting upon the diversity of gender. Since his debut fiction novel in 2003 “Witch Son” won the Bungei Award he has been publishing novels as well.

Finally I met him, the person with whom I was eager to meet. And Mr. Fushimi brought many gay magazies with him and I could see even the first issue of Barazoku! I took with me a cartoonist Mr. Utaguwa who issued the manga “Biri Love”. He has a popular blog, counting about a hundred thousand hits a day. It is a comic essay which depicts in a humorous way the life of him and his partner. Unfortunately this manga full of pureness, sex and humor is not translated in English yet. I hope that he will publish his work outside Japan too.

By the way, different people come to the bar every Wednesday, starting from SM qeens to mass media representatives and I can advise it for those who like cultural communication. You will be welcomed by the staff, which includes university professors as well as office workers.

2F Taraku Building 2-14-16 Shinjyuku Shinjyuku–ku , Tokyo
Phone 03-3352-2511
(They do not speak English!)

Japan's first gay magazine Barazoku

I’d like to introduce you to GONG, an artist whose style is Japanese and definitely gay (take a look at the pictures), but who is actually Chinese. I found Kenichi Meguro ‘GONG’ on the web but was surprised when I found out he was not a Japanese artist. His expression is very much a Japanese style, so naturally I thought that he was Japanese. Of course he likes Japanese culture and is influenced by anime and manga and his work reflects that. He studies in Canada but is from China.

Here is a message from GONG concerning his works:

Beautiful muscle guy is always the main theme of my art works.
I always try to create a beautiful face first when I start each of my illustrations,
and then a solid body is a prerequisite.
My art is made by computer, and as a Japanese animation fan,
the anime coloring style has become my most favorite way to color my illustrations.
I use less color which makes complicated things look simple,
and makes color vivid but not too sharp:
Simple, Clean, Soft are the features of my works,
I hope people can feel comfortable when they watch my art stuff.

In future I would like to make Gongs works availablefor sale, I’d be happy to know your impresion about his works so please make a comment.

I’m going to start introducing a bigger range of artists than before, including a wider range of Asian artists beyond the Japanese borders. Is there anyone that you’d like me to especially feature?

Artwork by GONG

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I’ve had several requests from collectors to obtain vintage Japanese gay magazines such as Barazoku and Sabu. These magazines feature illustrations by artists such as Go Hirano and other artists featured in my blog. If you’re interested in some copies of these magazines please contact me.

Vintage Japanese gay magazines

In Tokyo this week I went to a private museum that specialises in gay art. The museum is placed in the small private house of Mr. Ogizaki. Pictures of Sadao Hasegawa, Go Mishima, Go Hirano, Naomichi Okutsu and Hideki Koh are displayed in all walls of the house. As the owner says there are about 140 works in his posession. On can also found a lot of gay magazines, novels and books in his collections. The owner, Mr. Ogizaki gave me a warm reception, we enjoyed tea and peaches in a calm atmosphere. If you are in Tokyo and like gay art it is worth a visit.

Please note that the owner does not speak English, please make inquires in Japanese

Open Days: Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday
Open Times: 13:00-17:00
Entrance Fee: JPY700
Address: 907 Hatogaya Sky Heights, 606-2 Tuji, Hatogaya-City, Saitama, Japan
Telephone: 048-283-1267

Private Museum Ogizaki Masahiro Collection "The House Of Gay Art"